Impact of individual, combined and sequential stress on photosynthesis machinery in rice (Oryza sativa L).

Abiotic stresses such as heat, drought and submergence are major threats to global food security. Despite simultaneous or sequential occurrence of these stresses being recurrent under field conditions, crop response to such stress combinations is poorly understood. Rice is a staple food crop for the majority of human beings.

Maize and heat stress: Physiological, genetic, and molecular insights.

Global mean temperature is increasing at a rapid pace due to the rapid emission of greenhouse gases majorly from anthropogenic practices and predicted to rise up to 1.5°C above the pre-industrial level by the year 2050. The warming climate is affecting global crop production by altering biochemical, physiological, and metabolic processes resulting in poor growth, development, and reduced yield.

Seed biopriming with potential bioagents influences physiological processes and plant defense enzymes to ameliorate sheath blight induced yield loss in rice (Oryza sativa L.).

Disease management with the use of conventional pesticides has emerged as a major threat to the environment and human health. Moreover, the increasing cost of pesticides and their use in staple crops such as rice is not economically sustainable. The present study utilized a combination of two commercial powder formulations of biocontrol agents, Trichoderma harzianum (Th38) and Pseudomonas fluorescens (Pf28) to induce resistance against sheath blight disease via seed biopriming in basmati rice variety Vasumati and compared the performance with systemic fungicide carbendazim.

Climate change challenges, plant science solutions.

Climate change is a defining challenge of the 21st century, and this decade is a critical time for action to mitigate the worst effects on human populations and ecosystems. Plant science can play an important role in developing crops with enhanced resilience to harsh conditions (e.g.

Walking through crossroads-rice responses to heat and biotic stress interactions.

Rice, the most important source of calories for humans is prone to severe yield loss due to changing climate including heat stress. Additionally, rice encounters biotic stresses in conjunction with heat stress, which exacerbates the adverse effects, and exponentially increase such losses. Several investigations have identified biotic and heat stress-related quantitative trait loci (QTLs) that may contribute to improved tolerance to these stresses.

Physiological and molecular signatures reveal differential response of rice genotypes to drought and drought combination with heat and salinity stress.

Unlabelled: Rice is the staple food for more than 3.5 billion people worldwide. The sensitivity of rice to heat, drought, and salinity is well documented.

Enhancing Sorghum Yield Through Efficient Use of Nitrogen - Challenges and Opportunities.

Sorghum is an important crop, which is widely used as food, forage, fodder and biofuel. Despite its natural adaption to resource-poor and stressful environments, increasing yield potential of sorghum under more favorable conditions holds promise. Nitrogen is the most important nutrient for crops, having a dynamic impact on all growth, yield, and grain-quality-determining processes.

Carbon dioxide responsiveness mitigates rice yield loss under high night temperature.

Increasing night-time temperatures are a major threat to sustaining global rice (Oryza sativa L.) production. A simultaneous increase in [CO2] will lead to an inevitable interaction between elevated [CO2] (e[CO2]) and high night temperature (HNT) under current and future climates.

Biopriming with Piriformospora indica ameliorates cadmium stress in rice by lowering oxidative stress and cell death in root cells.

Piriformospora indica is known for plant growth promotion and abiotic stress alleviation potential in several agricultural crops. However, a systemic analysis is warranted to explore potential application of this important fungus to augment heavy metal tolerance in rice. The present study explores potential of P.

High temperature stress during flowering and grain filling offsets beneficial impact of elevated CO on assimilate partitioning and sink-strength in rice.

Elevated [CO] (e[CO]) environments have been predicted to improve rice yields under future climate. However, a concomitant rise in temperature could negate e[CO] impact on plants, presenting a serious challenge for crop improvement. High temperature (HT) stress tolerant NL-44 and high yielding basmati Pusa 1121 rice cultivars, were exposed to e[CO] (from panicle initiation to maturity) and a combination of e[CO] + HT (from heading to maturity) using field based open top chambers.

Genetic Control of Plasticity in Root Morphology and Anatomy of Rice in Response to Water Deficit.

Elucidating the genetic control of rooting behavior under water-deficit stress is essential to breed climate-robust rice () cultivars. Using a diverse panel of 274 genotypes grown under control and water-deficit conditions during vegetative growth, we phenotyped 35 traits, mostly related to root morphology and anatomy, involving 45,000 root-scanning images and nearly 25,000 cross sections from the root-shoot junction. The phenotypic plasticity of these traits was quantified as the relative change in trait value under water-deficit compared with control conditions.

Post-flowering night respiration and altered sink activity account for high night temperature-induced grain yield and quality loss in rice (Oryza sativa L.).

High night temperature (HNT) is a major constraint to sustaining global rice production under future climate. Physiological and biochemical mechanisms were elucidated for HNT-induced grain yield and quality loss in rice. Contrasting rice cultivars (N22, tolerant; Gharib, susceptible; IR64, high yielding with superior grain quality) were tested under control (23°C) and HNT (29°C) using unique field-based tents from panicle initiation till physiological maturity.

Implications of High Temperature and Elevated CO2 on Flowering Time in Plants.

Flowering is a crucial determinant for plant reproductive success and seed-set. Increasing temperature and elevated carbon-dioxide (e[CO2]) are key climate change factors that could affect plant fitness and flowering related events. Addressing the effect of these environmental factors on flowering events such as time of day of anthesis (TOA) and flowering time (duration from germination till flowering) is critical to understand the adaptation of plants/crops to changing climate and is the major aim of this review.

Physiological and biochemical characterization of NERICA-L-44: a novel source of heat tolerance at the vegetative and reproductive stages in rice.

The predicted increase in the frequency and magnitude of extreme heat spikes under future climate can reduce rice yields significantly. Rice sensitivity to high temperatures during the reproductive stage is well documented while the same during the vegetative stage is more speculative. Hence, to identify and characterize novel heat-tolerant donors for both the vegetative and reproductive stages, 71 rice accessions, including approximately 75% New Rice for Africa (NERICAs), were phenotyped across field experiments during summer seasons in Delhi, India, and in a controlled environment study at International Rice Research Institute, Philippines.