Monsanto of the US and BASF of Germany have identified the bacterial gene they will transfer to corn (maize), to help plants grow better in drought conditions. The companies say they will use the gene, known as cspB, in their first-generation drought- tolerant maize, which they plan to launch commercially in 2012.

The agricultural biotechnology industry has great hopes for drought tolerance as the basis of the next big wave of genetically modified crops, following on from today's herbicide-resistant and insect-killing GM varieties.