Researchers discover how plants produce a novel anti-stress molecule

New research identifies for the first time the genes that help plants grow under stressful conditions—with implications for producing more sustainable food crops in the face of global climate change.

Led by the University of East Anglia (UEA), the study reveals the genes that enable plants to make a novel anti-stress molecule called dimethylsulfoniopropionate, or DMSP. It shows that most plants make DMSP, but that high-level DMSP production allows plants to grow at the coast, for example in salty conditions.

The research also shows that plants can be grown under other stressful conditions, such as drought, when either they are supplemented with DMSP or plants are created that make their own DMSP. Such an approach may be of particular benefit in nitrogen-poor soils to improve agricultural productivity.

This is the first study to describe the genes that plants use to produce DMSP, identify why plants make this molecule, and discover that DMSP can be used to improve the stress tolerance of plants. The findings are published today in the journal Nature Communications.

Prof. Jon Todd, of UEA’s School of Biological Sciences, said, “Excitingly, our study shows that most plants make the anti-stress compound DMSP, but that the saltmarsh grass Spartina is special due to the high levels it accumulates. This is important because Spartina saltmarshes are global hotspots for DMSP production and for generation of the climate-cooling gas dimethylsulfide through the action of microbes that breakdown DMSP.”

Lead author Dr. Ben Miller, also from UEA’s School of Biological Sciences, added, “This discovery provides fundamental understanding about how plants tolerate stress and offers promising avenues for improving the tolerance of crops to salinity and drought, which is important for enhancing agricultural sustainability in the face of global climate change.”

The research team included scientists from UEA’s School of Biological Sciences, School of Chemistry, Pharmacy and Pharmacology, and Ocean University of China.

They studied a species of saltmarsh cordgrass—Spartina anglica—that produces high levels of DMSP and compared its genes with those from other plants that produce the molecule, though mainly at low concentrations.

Many of these low DMSP-accumulating species are crop plants that cover large areas in the UK, such as barley and wheat.

The researchers identified three enzymes involved in the high-level production of DMSP in Spartina anglica. DMSP plays crucial roles in stress protection and is integral to global carbon and sulfur cycling, as well as the production of climate-active gases.

Saltmarsh ecosystems, particularly those dominated by Spartina cordgrass, are hotspots for DMSP production due to these plants being able to synthesize unusually high concentrations of the compound.