[Wilhelm Gruissem] A Research Breakthrough in Enhancing Cassava Yield and Drought Tolerance
Professor Wilhelm Gruissem and his team found that engineering potassium transport in cassava vascular tissues by expressing a modified Arabidopsis K+ channel gene, AKT2var, enhances drought tolerance and resilience. This approach significantly increased cassava storage root yield under unfavorable climate conditions without additional fertilizer input. The study was published in Nature Plants (Zierer et al., 2025).
Article source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-025-02159-7#author-information