Identification of , a gene whose constitutive overexpression increases glycinebetaine content in maize and soybean.

Efforts to increase glycinebetaine (GB) levels in plants have been pursued as an approach to improving plant performance under stress conditions. To date, the impact of engineered levels of GB has been limited by metabolic constraints that restrict the achieved increases. We report the identification of a novel gene, that is differentially expressed in high and low GB accumulating maize genotypes.

Plant nuclear factor Y (NF-Y) B subunits confer drought tolerance and lead to improved corn yields on water-limited acres.

Commercially improved crop performance under drought conditions has been challenging because of the complexity of the trait and the multitude of factors that influence yield. Here we report the results of a functional genomics approach that identified a transcription factor from the nuclear factor Y (NF-Y) family, AtNF-YB1, which acts through a previously undescribed mechanism to confer improved performance in Arabidopsis under drought conditions. An orthologous maize transcription factor, ZmNF-YB2, is shown to have an equivalent activity.