Peanut Resilience to Heat and Drought

Intense drought and heat conditions are common in South Carolina and among southeastern United States, leading to decreased crop yield and health. With the world population being projected to pass 9 billion by 2050, crops hold increased importance, as farmers must be able to provide food for the growing population. No current peanut GMO\u27s have heat and drought resistance duality. Therefore, this researched focused on finding what factor could create that. It was hypothesized that the fatty acid composition of the cellular membrane is the answer, with higher unsaturated fatty acid content equaling higher resilience. To test this, four plots of crops were grown of six different genotypes, with two plots subjected to heat and drought conditions using heat tents. The heat tents maintained an internal temperature 10°F higher than the outside temperature. The crops were planted in 96 roles at 2 apart. After 1 month of optimum growth, and 1 month of stressed growth, the plants will be harvested. The legumes and pods will be dried and weighed for biomass. The flowers and pods were analyzed for Fatty Acid Desaturase enzyme activity. Genotypes with higher rates of FAD activity are believed to be more heat and drought tolerant, because their plasma membranes are less fluid. The results of this study will be utilized to increase crop yield and efficiency in drought and heat-stricken areas. There are no results for this study currently because the experiment is not complete yet. Data and results are still being recorded and determined