Field evaluation of AtDREB2A CA overexpressing sugarcane for drought tolerance

Climate change is undoubtedly altering the atmosphere, occasioning extreme temperatures that can cause weather calamities such as droughts and floods. Among the major constraints limiting crop production, drought is one of the most important. Sugarcane (Saccharum spp. hybrid) is considered an important economic crop not only for sugar production, but also for ethanol generation, serving as an expandable green alternative to crude oil use. To take advantage of the use of sugarcane as renewable source for bioethanol production, it is important to increase its productivity without increasing land use, which includes cultivation under hostile conditions, such as water‐limited environments. Previously, we demonstrated that stress‐inducible overexpression of the transcription factor AtDREB2A CA conferred drought tolerance in sugarcane subjected to water deficit under greenhouse conditions. In the present work, the AtDREB2A CA transgenic sugarcane lines were evaluated in the field in two representative seasonally dry regions of Brazil. The results demonstrated that the AtDREB2A CA sugarcane lines presented higher yield and productivity when compared to non‐transformed plants under drought, representing a suitable strategy for the development of new drought‐tolerant cultivars.