Drought Tolerance Mechanisms in Sweet Potato Cultivars

Sweet potato cultivars exhibit a suite of adaptive strategies that confer resilience to water deficit, spanning morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular levels. Enhanced root system architecture, including deeper and more prolific lateral roots, enables improved soil water foraging. At the leaf level, modulation of stomatal aperture and changes in leaf orientation minimise transpiration loss while maintaining photosynthetic efficiency. Osmotic adjustment through accumulation of compatible solutes such as proline, soluble sugars and glycine betaine preserves cell turgour and enzyme function under dehydration. Concurrent induction of antioxidant enzymes, notably superoxide dismutase and catalase, mitigates oxidative damage triggered by drought‐induced reactive oxygen species. Hormonal regulation, especially abscisic acid signalling, orchestrates stress‐responsive gene networks, including transcription factors from the NAC, DREB and WRKY families, which modulate downstream protective mechanisms. Advances in genomics and transcriptomics have identified candidate genes associated with drought resilience, facilitating marker‐assisted selection and genome‐editing approaches. Collectively, these mechanisms underpin the development of high‐yielding, drought-tolerant sweet potato varieties critical for food security in marginal and rainfed regions.

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Drought Tolerance Mechanisms in Sweet Potato Cultivars publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in drought tolerance mechanisms in sweet potato cultivars across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Osmotic adjustment: Accumulation of compatible solutes in cells to maintain water uptake under drought.

Stomatal conductance: Rate of gas exchange through leaf pores, balancing CO₂ uptake and water loss.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS): Highly reactive molecules produced during stress that can damage cellular components.

Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA): A bioinformatic method to identify clusters of genes with correlated expression patterns.

Marker-assisted selection: Breeding technique that uses DNA markers linked to desirable traits to accelerate genetic improvement.

References

1. Transcriptome-Based WGCNA Analysis Reveals the Mechanism of Drought Resistance Differences in Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.). International Journal of Molecular Sciences (2023).
2. Trends and gaps in sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) improvement in sub‐Saharan Africa: Drought tolerance breeding strategies. Food and Energy Security (2024).
3. Sweet Potato as a Key Crop for Food Security under the Conditions of Global Climate Change: A Review. Plants (2023).
4. Analysis of the Nutritional Composition and Drought Tolerance Traits of Sweet Potato: Selection Criteria for Breeding Lines. Plants (2022).