Drought stress in rice: morpho-physiological and molecular responses and marker-assisted breeding

Abstract

Rice (Oryza Sativa L.) is an essential constituent of the global food chain. Drought stress significantly diminished its productivity and threatened global food security. This review concisely discussed how drought stress negatively influenced the rice’s optimal growth cycle and altered its morpho-physiological, biochemical, and molecular responses. To withstand adverse drought conditions, plants activate their inherent drought resistance mechanism (escape, avoidance, tolerance, and recovery). Drought acclimation response is characterized by many notable responses, including redox homeostasis, osmotic modifications, balanced water relations, and restored metabolic activity. Drought tolerance is a complicated phenomenon, and conventional breeding strategies have only shown limited success. The application of molecular markers is a pragmatic technique to accelerate the ongoing breeding process, known as marker-assisted breeding. This review study compiled information about quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and genes associated with agronomic yield-related traits (grain size, grain yield, harvest index, etc.) under drought stress. It emphasized the significance of modern breeding techniques and marker-assisted selection (MAS) tools for introgressing the known QTLs/genes into elite rice lines to develop drought-tolerant rice varieties. Hence, this study will provide a solid foundation for understanding the complex phenomenon of drought stress and its utilization in future crop development programs. Though modern genetic markers are expensive, future crop development programs combined with conventional and MAS tools will help the breeders produce high-yielding and drought-tolerant rice varieties.

Identification and characterization of drought-tolerant rice (Oryza sativa L.) genotypes using morpho-physiological and biochemical traits

“…Hence, the characters that load high values positively or negatively contributed more to the diversity and they were the ones that differentiated the clusters. Drought is a very complex phenomenon and therefore, we have to have more understanding about the modern breeding techniques and marker-assisted selections, which are considered suitable tools for introgression of the known drought tolerance genes into lines to develop drought-tolerant rice varieties (Hassan et al 2023).…”

Partial root-zone drying combined with nitrogen treatments mitigates drought responses in rice

“…However, rice is often subjected to abiotic stresses, such as drought, cold, and salinity, while growing. Because rice is a highly water-intensive crop, drought is a serious problem affecting rice production, and the lack of water can lead to significantly reduced productivity and yield ( Quan et al., 2016 ; Hassan et al., 2023 ). Statistically, drought is particularly frequent in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa.…”

Evaluation of Drought Tolerance of Rice Landraces in Mid-Hills of Nepal Using Drought Tolerant Indices

“…Rice plants are exceptionally responsive to insu cient soil moisture, particularly during crucial growth phases, primarily before owering and during grain lling. Drought, a noteworthy nonliving factor, leads to decreased rice production in regions dependent on rain and susceptible to drought (Adhikari et al, 2019;Hassan et al, 2023). Drought-induced losses are especially severe in South Asian countries, including Nepal, India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar (MoAD, 2015/16).…”