Yield benefit and ecophysiological processes behind the introgression of HaHB4 in a modern wheat in the Argentine Pampas
Context or problem: Breeding for improved tolerance to water deficit is critical to mitigate the climate change impact on wheat yield. In 2020, Argentina approved the first wheat transformed with the sunflower HaHB4 gene (INDØØ412–7), which increased yield by 16 % compared to the non-transformed Cad...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo |
| Language: | Inglés |
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Elsevier
2026
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/25002 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378429025005842 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2025.110319 |
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| author | Ayala, Francisco Curin, Facundo Diaz-Zorita, Martín Murguía, José Montero Bulacio, Enrique Portapila, Margarita Otegui, María Elena Chan, Raquel Lía Gonzalez, Fernanda Gabriela |
| author_browse | Ayala, Francisco Chan, Raquel Lía Curin, Facundo Diaz-Zorita, Martín Gonzalez, Fernanda Gabriela Montero Bulacio, Enrique Murguía, José Otegui, María Elena Portapila, Margarita |
| author_facet | Ayala, Francisco Curin, Facundo Diaz-Zorita, Martín Murguía, José Montero Bulacio, Enrique Portapila, Margarita Otegui, María Elena Chan, Raquel Lía Gonzalez, Fernanda Gabriela |
| author_sort | Ayala, Francisco |
| collection | INTA Digital |
| description | Context or problem: Breeding for improved tolerance to water deficit is critical to mitigate the climate change impact on wheat yield. In 2020, Argentina approved the first wheat transformed with the sunflower HaHB4 gene (INDØØ412–7), which increased yield by 16 % compared to the non-transformed Cadenza under drought conditions. This benefit may have been overestimated, as Cadenza is a long cycle for the Pampas region. Additionally, the underlying physiological mechanisms of yield benefit, particularly those related to water use and water use efficiency, remain to be fully elucidated.
Objective or research question: The aims of the study are (i) to quantify the yield advantage of HaHB4 in a modern, well-adapted cultivar and (ii) to elucidate the physiological processes involved in yield benefit, which is crucial for identifying optimal environments for this technology.
Methods: An HaHB4-introgressed line of Algarrobo was compared with the conventional cultivar in a broad network of experiments comprising one greenhouse, with two irrigation levels, and 29 field environments within the Pampas region combining different locations (10), years (5) and treatments (sowing dates, irrigation).
Results
Under water deficit during the reproductive phase, the yield advantage of HaHB4 was 15 % in the greenhouse and 13 % in the field. HaHB4 improved the relative yield by 0.06–0.08 % per mm of water deficit, also responding positively to moderate heat stress (∑Tmax > 30 °C ∼40–60 °Cd). The enhanced water use and water use efficiency conferred by HaHB4, allowed for maintaining biomass and yield under water deficit.
Conclusions: The hypothesis of an initial overestimation of HaHB4 benefits can be rejected because in the modern Algarrobo cultivar it showed a similar benefit as in Cadenza. In areas prone to drought combined with heat stress, the introgression of HaHB4 in modern cultivars would enhance yield stability by improving water-limited yield. This may have a great impact on productivity in rainfed cropping systems, like most of the wheat-producing areas around the world. |
| format | info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo |
| id | INTA25002 |
| institution | Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA -Argentina) |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| publisherStr | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | INTA250022026-01-19T13:23:44Z Yield benefit and ecophysiological processes behind the introgression of HaHB4 in a modern wheat in the Argentine Pampas Ayala, Francisco Curin, Facundo Diaz-Zorita, Martín Murguía, José Montero Bulacio, Enrique Portapila, Margarita Otegui, María Elena Chan, Raquel Lía Gonzalez, Fernanda Gabriela Trigo Eficiencia en el Uso de los Recursos Uso del Agua Tolerancia al Calor Tolerancia a la Sequia Mejoramiento Genético Rendimiento Wheat Resource Use Efficiency Water Use Heat Tolerance Drought Tolerance Genetic Improvement Yields Water Use Efficiency Spectral Indices HaHB4 Context or problem: Breeding for improved tolerance to water deficit is critical to mitigate the climate change impact on wheat yield. In 2020, Argentina approved the first wheat transformed with the sunflower HaHB4 gene (INDØØ412–7), which increased yield by 16 % compared to the non-transformed Cadenza under drought conditions. This benefit may have been overestimated, as Cadenza is a long cycle for the Pampas region. Additionally, the underlying physiological mechanisms of yield benefit, particularly those related to water use and water use efficiency, remain to be fully elucidated. Objective or research question: The aims of the study are (i) to quantify the yield advantage of HaHB4 in a modern, well-adapted cultivar and (ii) to elucidate the physiological processes involved in yield benefit, which is crucial for identifying optimal environments for this technology. Methods: An HaHB4-introgressed line of Algarrobo was compared with the conventional cultivar in a broad network of experiments comprising one greenhouse, with two irrigation levels, and 29 field environments within the Pampas region combining different locations (10), years (5) and treatments (sowing dates, irrigation). Results Under water deficit during the reproductive phase, the yield advantage of HaHB4 was 15 % in the greenhouse and 13 % in the field. HaHB4 improved the relative yield by 0.06–0.08 % per mm of water deficit, also responding positively to moderate heat stress (∑Tmax > 30 °C ∼40–60 °Cd). The enhanced water use and water use efficiency conferred by HaHB4, allowed for maintaining biomass and yield under water deficit. Conclusions: The hypothesis of an initial overestimation of HaHB4 benefits can be rejected because in the modern Algarrobo cultivar it showed a similar benefit as in Cadenza. In areas prone to drought combined with heat stress, the introgression of HaHB4 in modern cultivars would enhance yield stability by improving water-limited yield. This may have a great impact on productivity in rainfed cropping systems, like most of the wheat-producing areas around the world. EEA Pergamino Fil: Ayala, Francisco. Bioceres Crop Solutions; Argentina Fil: Curín, Facundo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencias del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires; Argentina Fil: Curín, Facundo. Universidad Nacional del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires; Argentina Fil: Diaz-Zorita, Martín. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa. Facultad de Agronomía; Argentina Fil: Diaz-Zorita, Martín. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET); Argentina Fil: Murguía, José. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). Instituto de Agrobiotecnología del Litoral; Argentina Fil: Murguía, José. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas; Argentina Fil: Montero Bulacio, Enrique. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). Centro Internacional Franco Argentino de Ciencias de la Información y de Sistemas; Argentina Fil: Montero Bulacio, Enrique. Universidad Nacional de Rosario; Argentina Fil: Portapila, Margarita. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). Centro Internacional Franco Argentino de Ciencias de la Información y de Sistemas; Argentina Fil: Portapila, Margarita. Universidad Nacional de Rosario; Argentina Fil: Otegui, María Elena. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Pergamino; Argentina Fil: Otegui, María E. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento de Producción Vegetal; Argentina Fil: Otegui, María E. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET); Argentina Fil: Chan, Raquel Lía. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). Instituto de Agrobiotecnología del Litoral; Argentina Fil: Chan, Raquel Lía. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas; Argentina Fil: González, Fernanda G. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Pergamino. Sección Ecofisiología; Argentina Fil: González, Fernanda G. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencias del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires; Argentina Fil: González, Fernanda G. Universidad Nacional del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires; Argentina 2026-01-19T13:00:23Z 2026-01-19T13:00:23Z 2026-04 info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/25002 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378429025005842 0378-4290 (impreso) 1872-6852 (online) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2025.110319 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) application/pdf Elsevier Field Crops Research 339 : 110319. (April 2026) |
| spellingShingle | Trigo Eficiencia en el Uso de los Recursos Uso del Agua Tolerancia al Calor Tolerancia a la Sequia Mejoramiento Genético Rendimiento Wheat Resource Use Efficiency Water Use Heat Tolerance Drought Tolerance Genetic Improvement Yields Water Use Efficiency Spectral Indices HaHB4 Ayala, Francisco Curin, Facundo Diaz-Zorita, Martín Murguía, José Montero Bulacio, Enrique Portapila, Margarita Otegui, María Elena Chan, Raquel Lía Gonzalez, Fernanda Gabriela Yield benefit and ecophysiological processes behind the introgression of HaHB4 in a modern wheat in the Argentine Pampas |
| title | Yield benefit and ecophysiological processes behind the introgression of HaHB4 in a modern wheat in the Argentine Pampas |
| title_full | Yield benefit and ecophysiological processes behind the introgression of HaHB4 in a modern wheat in the Argentine Pampas |
| title_fullStr | Yield benefit and ecophysiological processes behind the introgression of HaHB4 in a modern wheat in the Argentine Pampas |
| title_full_unstemmed | Yield benefit and ecophysiological processes behind the introgression of HaHB4 in a modern wheat in the Argentine Pampas |
| title_short | Yield benefit and ecophysiological processes behind the introgression of HaHB4 in a modern wheat in the Argentine Pampas |
| title_sort | yield benefit and ecophysiological processes behind the introgression of hahb4 in a modern wheat in the argentine pampas |
| topic | Trigo Eficiencia en el Uso de los Recursos Uso del Agua Tolerancia al Calor Tolerancia a la Sequia Mejoramiento Genético Rendimiento Wheat Resource Use Efficiency Water Use Heat Tolerance Drought Tolerance Genetic Improvement Yields Water Use Efficiency Spectral Indices HaHB4 |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/25002 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378429025005842 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2025.110319 |
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