Physiological and molecular attributes contribute to high night temperature tolerance in cereals

Abstract

Asymmetric warming resulting in a faster increase in night compared to day temperatures affects crop yields negatively. Physiological characterization and agronomic findings have been complemented more recently by molecular biology approaches including transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic and lipidomic investigations in crops exposed to high night temperature (HNT) conditions. Nevertheless, the understanding of the underlying mechanisms causing yield decline under HNT is still limited. The discovery of significant differences between HNT‐tolerant and HNT‐sensitive cultivars is one of the main research directions to secure continuous food supply under the challenge of increasing climate change. With this review, we provide a summary of current knowledge on the physiological and molecular basis of contrasting HNT tolerance in rice and wheat cultivars. Requirements for HNT tolerance and the special adaptation strategies of the HNT‐tolerant rice cultivar Nagina‐22 (N22) are discussed. Putative metabolite markers for HNT tolerance useful for marker‐assisted breeding are suggested, together with future research directions aimed at improving food security under HNT conditions.

Response of rice phenology to climate warming weakened across China during 1981–2018: did climatic or anthropogenic factors play a role?

“…Our analyses showed that rice phenology responded differently to T min , T max and T mean , and T min affected more significantly the GPs for all the three rice types, which was well supported by chambers and field-based studies in cereals across major cropping regions of the world (Peng et al 2004, Impa et al 2021, Schaarschmidt et al 2021, Sakai et al 2022. The stronger negative effects of T min may mostly result from its greater increasing rate (supplementary figure S3).…”

Omics Path to Increasing Productivity in Less-Studied Crops Under Changing Climate—Lentil a Case Study

“…A new paradigm in the form of metabolomics has emerged as a potential approach to establish signature metabolites as markers associated with agronomically important traits ( Schaarschmidt et al, 2021 ). Metabolite levels are a quantitative trait and hence in QTL mapping and GWAS they are considered as quantitative phenotypic trait.…”

Scaling plant responses to high temperature from cell to ecosystem

“…A large genetic diversity exists in crop plants, with different level of sensitivity observed in response to heat stress, but exploiting higher levels of heat tolerance for crop improvement has been a challenge due to limitations related to phenotyping large populations (Impa et al, 2021). Using metabolomics and transcriptomics approaches, Schaarschmidt, Lawas, Kopka, Jagadish, and Zuther (2021) show the relevance of deriving molecular markers to enhance our ability to capture large genetic diversity for heat stress responses. Schaarschmidt et al (2021) reveal underlying metabolites and transcripts that differentiate heat‐tolerant rice and wheat from susceptible genotypes, indicating the possibility of developing molecular markers to complement ongoing efforts to breed crops with increased heat tolerance.…”

“…Using metabolomics and transcriptomics approaches, Schaarschmidt, Lawas, Kopka, Jagadish, and Zuther (2021) show the relevance of deriving molecular markers to enhance our ability to capture large genetic diversity for heat stress responses. Schaarschmidt et al (2021) reveal underlying metabolites and transcripts that differentiate heat‐tolerant rice and wheat from susceptible genotypes, indicating the possibility of developing molecular markers to complement ongoing efforts to breed crops with increased heat tolerance.…”