MYB59 is Linked to Natural Variation of Water‐Use Associated With Warmer Temperatures in Arabidopsis thaliana
Abstract
Water‐use contributes significantly to plant growth and productivity, yet the extent to which variation in water‐use is a function of adaptive differentiation is unknown. Here, we studied natural variation of water use in Arabidopsis thaliana to understand how climatic history impacts water‐use strategies. We performed a survey of vegetative water use (VWU) and life‐history traits across A. thaliana ecotypes in controlled and outdoor settings. Performance of select ecotypes in controlled experiments was reflective of performance in outdoor conditions. Through trait‐climate and genome‐wide association (GWAS) analyses, we tested for signals of environmental adaptation in water use. Ecotypes from warmer environments were noted in displaying enhanced water use, independent of precipitation. GWAS identified the transcription factor MYB59 as a determiner of VWU. Functionally significant MYB59 SNPs showed associations with temperature, but not precipitation, and myb59 mutants demonstrated reduced water use under high temperatures. Our study suggests intraspecific variation in water‐use can be explained in part by climatic history, where temperature is the most significant driver. MYB59 appears to contribute to this association and represents a promising candidate for future investigation in crops.
Related
- Subcellular carbohydrate compartmentation and organic acid signatures reveal natural variation in cold acclimation of Arabidopsis thaliana
- High Light Intensity Potentiates Bacillus amyloliquefaciens PMB05-Associated Plant Immunity and Bacterial Soft Rot Control in Arabidopsis thaliana
- Overexpression of SiLEA_2-6 from Saussurea involucrata Enhances Salt and Osmotic Tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana
- Hypomagnetic field inhibits seed germination via ROS signaling and reprogramming transcriptome in Arabidopsis thaliana
- TOC159 receptors use a galactolipid-specific bipartite signal for chloroplast targeting in Arabidopsis thaliana
BibTeX
@article{ferguson2026myb59,
title = {{MYB59 is Linked to Natural Variation of Water‐Use Associated With Warmer Temperatures in Arabidopsis thaliana}},
author = {John N Ferguson and Oliver Brendel and Ulrike Bechtold},
journal = {Plant-Environment Interactions},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1002/pei3.70199},
url = {https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-05793991v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - MYB59 is Linked to Natural Variation of Water‐Use Associated With Warmer Temperatures in Arabidopsis thaliana
AU - John N Ferguson
AU - Oliver Brendel
AU - Ulrike Bechtold
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/09
JO - Plant-Environment Interactions
DO - 10.1002/pei3.70199
UR - https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-05793991v1
AB - Water‐use contributes significantly to plant growth and productivity, yet the extent to which variation in water‐use is a function of adaptive differentiation is unknown. Here, we studied natural variation of water use in Arabidopsis thaliana to understand how climatic history impacts water‐use strategies. We performed a survey of vegetative water use (VWU) and life‐history traits across A. thaliana ecotypes in controlled and outdoor settings. Performance of select ecotypes in controlled experiments was reflective of performance in outdoor conditions. Through trait‐climate and genome‐wide association (GWAS) analyses, we tested for signals of environmental adaptation in water use. Ecotypes from warmer environments were noted in displaying enhanced water use, independent of precipitation. GWAS identified the transcription factor MYB59 as a determiner of VWU. Functionally significant MYB59 SNPs showed associations with temperature, but not precipitation, and myb59 mutants demonstrated reduced water use under high temperatures. Our study suggests intraspecific variation in water‐use can be explained in part by climatic history, where temperature is the most significant driver. MYB59 appears to contribute to this association and represents a promising candidate for future investigation in crops.
SN - 2575-6265
ER -