Yield benefit and ecophysiological processes behind the introgression of HaHB4 in a modern wheat in the Argentine Pampas

Autores: Ayala, Francisco; Curin, Facundo; Diaz-Zorita, Martín; Murguía, José; Montero Bulacio, Enrique; Portapila, Margarita; Otegui, María Elena; Chan, Raquel Lía; Gonzalez, Fernanda Gabriela
Año de publicación: 2026
Idioma: inglés
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado: versión publicada
Descripción: 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
Fuente: Field Crops Research 339 : 110319. (April 2026)
Materia: 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
Nivel de accesibilidad: acceso restringido
Condiciones de uso: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Repositorio
Institución: Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria
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spelling	Yield benefit and ecophysiological processes behind the introgression of HaHB4 in a modern wheat in the Argentine PampasAyala, FranciscoCurin, FacundoDiaz-Zorita, MartínMurguía, JoséMontero Bulacio, EnriquePortapila, MargaritaOtegui, María ElenaChan, Raquel LíaGonzalez, Fernanda GabrielaTrigoEficiencia en el Uso de los RecursosUso del AguaTolerancia al CalorTolerancia a la SequiaMejoramiento GenéticoRendimientoWheatResource Use EfficiencyWater UseHeat ToleranceDrought ToleranceGenetic ImprovementYieldsWater Use EfficiencySpectral IndicesHaHB4Context 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 PergaminoFil: Ayala, Francisco. Bioceres Crop Solutions; ArgentinaFil: Curín, Facundo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencias del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Curín, Facundo. Universidad Nacional del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Diaz-Zorita, Martín. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa. Facultad de Agronomía; ArgentinaFil: Diaz-Zorita, Martín. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET); ArgentinaFil: Murguía, José. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). Instituto de Agrobiotecnología del Litoral; ArgentinaFil: Murguía, José. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas; ArgentinaFil: Montero Bulacio, Enrique. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). Centro Internacional Franco Argentino de Ciencias de la Información y de Sistemas; ArgentinaFil: Montero Bulacio, Enrique. Universidad Nacional de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Portapila, Margarita. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). Centro Internacional Franco Argentino de Ciencias de la Información y de Sistemas; ArgentinaFil: Portapila, Margarita. Universidad Nacional de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Otegui, María Elena. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Pergamino; ArgentinaFil: Otegui, María E. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento de Producción Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Otegui, María E. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET); ArgentinaFil: Chan, Raquel Lía. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). Instituto de Agrobiotecnología del Litoral; ArgentinaFil: Chan, Raquel Lía. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas; ArgentinaFil: González, Fernanda G. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Pergamino. Sección Ecofisiología; ArgentinaFil: González, Fernanda G. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencias del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: González, Fernanda G. Universidad Nacional del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaElsevier2026-01-19T13:00:23Z2026-01-19T13:00:23Z2026-04info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/25002https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S03784290250058420378-4290 (impreso)1872-6852 (online)https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2025.110319Field Crops Research 339 : 110319. (April 2026)reponame:INTA Digital (INTA)instname:Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuariaenginfo:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccesshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)2026-02-05T12:54:27Zoai:localhost:20.500.12123/25002instacron:INTAInstitucionalhttp://repositorio.inta.gob.ar/Organismo científico-tecnológicoNo correspondehttp://repositorio.inta.gob.ar/oai/requesttripaldi.nicolas@inta.gob.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:l2026-02-05 12:54:27.382INTA Digital (INTA) - Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuariafalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv	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
spellingShingle	Yield benefit and ecophysiological processes behind the introgression of HaHB4 in a modern wheat in the Argentine Pampas Ayala, Francisco 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
title_short	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_sort	Yield benefit and ecophysiological processes behind the introgression of HaHB4 in a modern wheat in the Argentine Pampas
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv	Ayala, Francisco Curin, Facundo Diaz-Zorita, Martín Murguía, José Montero Bulacio, Enrique Portapila, Margarita Otegui, María Elena Chan, Raquel Lía Gonzalez, Fernanda Gabriela
author	Ayala, Francisco
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_role	author
author2	Curin, Facundo Diaz-Zorita, Martín Murguía, José Montero Bulacio, Enrique Portapila, Margarita Otegui, María Elena Chan, Raquel Lía Gonzalez, Fernanda Gabriela
author2_role	author author author author author author author author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv	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
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
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv	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
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.
publishDate	2026
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv	2026-01-19T13:00:23Z 2026-01-19T13:00:23Z 2026-04
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv	info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501 info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo
format	article
status_str	publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv	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
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
identifier_str_mv	0378-4290 (impreso) 1872-6852 (online)
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv	eng
language	eng
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv	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)
eu_rights_str_mv	restrictedAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv	application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv	Elsevier
publisher.none.fl_str_mv	Elsevier
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv	Field Crops Research 339 : 110319. (April 2026) reponame:INTA Digital (INTA) instname:Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria
reponame_str	INTA Digital (INTA)
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repository.mail.fl_str_mv	tripaldi.nicolas@inta.gob.ar
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Yield benefit and ecophysiological processes behind the introgression of HaHB4 in a modern wheat in the Argentine Pampas

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