February 13, 20252 min readHot Potato Plants Engineered to Flourish in Heat WavesA genetic tweak keeps potatoes efficient in the heatBy Julian Nowogrodzki edited by Sarah Lewin Frasier Thomas FuchsWhen a scorching heat wave struck Illinois in June 2022, crop physiologist Katherine Meacham-Hensold hoped her teams new bioengineered potato variety would survive itbut she was astonished by just how well it thrived. The plant yielded 30 percent more of its large red tubers than a normal, unengineered plant in the same conditions, according to a recent study in Global Change Biology.This study is particularly noteworthy because it shows real benefits in a field setting with a staple crop, says biochemist Edward Smith of the University of Oxford, who was not involved in the research. Theres no reason this technology couldnt be applied to more crops.To engineer the potato, Meacham-Hensold and her colleagues at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign focused on an inconvenient heat-triggered process in most plants called photorespiration, in which a key photosynthesis enzyme known as RuBisCO gets sidetracked and begins making a toxic by-product. RuBisCO molecules need to bind to carbon dioxide to carry out photosynthesis, but about a quarter of the time they grab oxygen insteadand this erroneous process happens more often at high temperatures. This inefficiency can decrease crop yields by as much as 50 percent.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.In the new engineered potatoes, a gene inserted into the plant cells nucleus produced a protein that traveled into the chloroplast, the cell organelle used in photosynthesis. There it broke down the toxic by-product, so the chloroplast didnt need to send it out to other organelles. This saved energy, similar to how eating local food saves the energy of trucking it across the country.During the engineered potatoes 2022 growing season in the Illinois test field, an extreme heat wave brought four consecutive days with temperatures higher than 95 degrees Fahrenheit. But the new potatos genetic change which can be passed on to the next generationboosted yield by almost a third. We were really shocked, Meacham-Hensold says. The photosynthesis process is a promising target for agricultural engineering, she adds, because it can increase crop yield without the need for extra land use and fertilizer. The results are exciting, Smith says, although hed like to see data from future growing seasons.The new technique could help crops adapt to climate change. Similar strategies have been used previously in rice, but this study is the first to show that it doesnt cause a decrease in a food crops nutritional quality, Meacham Hensold says: the team froze and ground up the tubers to measure their starch, fiber, sugars, protein, calcium, potassium, iron, and vitamins B6 and C.Next the researchers are working on soybeans and cowpeas; the latter is a hugely important food-security crop in African countries, Meacham-Hensold says. A high-yield soybean variety with the same genetic change will hit the field this year.