press release.<\/a><\/p>\nBuckeridge explains that elevated CO\u2082 can also help plants cope with drought because leaf stomata close slightly. Stomata are tiny openings mainly found in leaves that allow gas exchange and water loss. When they close somewhat, the plant can still take in carbon dioxide but loses less water.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt causes the plant to grow faster, enabling the production of more seeds. And what about when drought is also present? We discovered that CO\u2082 protects the plant against the effects of drought. Even a moderate drought causes the plant to produce fewer seeds. But with high carbon dioxide levels, the leaf stomata close slightly [stomata are crucial microstructures for gas exchange and transpiration found mainly in leaves that open during the day in the presence of light]. In other words, the plant captures the carbon dioxide it needs for its processes but loses less water. That\u2019s the protective effect CO\u2082 has against drought.\u201d<\/p>\n
In some cases, elevated CO\u2082 can also help offset the damage caused by higher temperatures. However, the study suggests that when all three pressures are combined, the result is not simply positive or negative. Instead, the plant changes the way it uses and stores carbon.<\/p>\n
A Shift in Seed Composition<\/p>\n
The researchers found that soybeans exposed to the combined climate pressures produced more beans, but the beans had a different nutritional profile.<\/p>\n
According to Buckeridge, lower starch content suggests that the plant may be directing captured carbon toward building cell walls instead of storing it as starch in the seed. That means the beans may contain more fiber and less stored energy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn other words, high carbon dioxide causes a deviation from the normal metabolism of the bean. Drought causes a second deviation and temperature a third. When we combine the three, we get deviation number four. That means the process isn\u2019t linear, which is one of the most important findings from our latest published work. The pathways of the stress factors are different. Temperature and drought act through distinct stress pathways, metabolically speaking. We already understand that and have published it. That\u2019s why it\u2019s important to understand their effect in combination with high CO\u2082.\u201d<\/p>\n
The finding is important because it shows that combined climate stresses can produce results that cannot be predicted by looking at each stress factor separately.<\/p>\n
How the Study Was Conducted<\/p>\n
When the researchers analyzed each climate factor individually, elevated carbon dioxide increased bean production by up to 142%. High temperatures reduced yield by 91%, while drought reduced yield by 60%.<\/p>\n
To study the combined triple effect of elevated CO\u2082, high temperature and drought, the team used predictive modeling based on experimentally validated dual-stress data. Those experiments looked at elevated CO\u2082 with high temperature, and elevated CO\u2082 with drought.<\/p>\n
\u201cConducting the experiment with all treatments and controls simultaneously would be a massive undertaking. We\u2019d need to consider control groups for the combinations of high CO\u2082 with temperature and drought, high CO\u2082 with temperature but no drought, high CO\u2082 with drought only without temperature, and I don\u2019t have space in the system. I have chambers that raise the temperature, and I can create drought artificially by removing water from the plants. These experiments have already been tested and have yielded excellent results, allowing us to understand how different stresses affect plants separately and in combination,\u201d explains Buckeridge.<\/p>\n
The researchers used open-top chambers that allow carbon dioxide levels and temperature to be controlled. In some treatments, plants were exposed to carbon dioxide levels twice as high as ambient air, while temperatures were raised by up to 5 \u00b0C. Drought was simulated by reducing irrigation.<\/p>\n
The team used a soybean cultivar from the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, EMBRAPA, called MG\/BR-46 Conquista.<\/p>\n
Using AI to Predict Combined Impacts<\/p>\n
To estimate the combined impact of all three pressures, the scientists used AI tools trained on results from previous experiments.<\/p>\n
Generalized linear models were used to estimate the effects of the climate factors individually and in combination. Machine learning approaches, including XGBoost and CatBoost, were also used to predict the triple effect.<\/p>\n
\u201cAI modeling was able to predict the results of two stress factors on the bean, as verified in the experiment. That leads us to believe that we can also rely on the results obtained from the modeling for the triple impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
This approach allowed researchers to explore a complex climate scenario that would be difficult to test fully in a single experiment.<\/p>\n
What Comes Next<\/p>\n
The group\u2019s next step is to identify the genes involved in soybean responses to different climate stresses and better understand how these pressures change plant metabolism.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith that knowledge, we\u2019ll be able to redesign the plant to produce the same amount of protein while losing less starch, for example. Ultimately, it\u2019ll be possible to prepare the seed for better adaptation to climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n
The researchers also want to understand how these findings could improve models used to predict climate change impacts on crops.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s likely that other species will behave similarly. We\u2019ve already conducted the dual-effect experiment on sugarcane. Now, we need to test temperature and run the simulation using AI,\u201d Buckeridge explains.<\/p>\n
Why It Matters for Agriculture<\/p>\n
The study suggests that future climate conditions may not only affect how much soybean is produced, but also what those soybeans contain.<\/p>\n
For farmers, breeders and feed users, that distinction is important. A crop may produce more seeds under some climate scenarios, but if those seeds contain less protein or energy, the overall value of the harvest could change.<\/p>\n
The findings point to the need for crop varieties that can maintain both yield and nutritional quality under rising CO\u2082, heat and drought. They also show how AI-supported modeling can help researchers better understand complex climate risks before they fully emerge in the field.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New AI-supported study finds that higher CO\u2082, heat and drought may increase bean production while reducing key nutritional…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":519089,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[219441,61,60,89,82,47577],"class_list":["post-519088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-crop-breeding","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-research","tag-science","tag-seed-world-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519088\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/519089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}