| abstract |
A method for increasing drought tolerance in a plant or photosynthetic organism is provided, where the tolerance is increased by applying an effective amount of Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), Trimethylamine N-oxide di-hydrate, a TMAO chemical derivative or a TMAO chemical analogue to a plant, plant part, photosynthetic organism or seed, or by introducing nucleic acid sequences coding for polypeptides with flavin monooxigenase activity, so the activity is increased three, preferably eight or more times or by the modification of endogenous nucleic acid sequences that increase the endogenous TMAO content in plants three, preferably eight or more times. Additionally, the invention relates to drought tolerant plants or photosynthetic organisms or its parts produced by the methods of the invention. |