Identification of microRNAs That Provide a Low Light Stress Tolerance-Mediated Signaling Pathway during Vegetative Growth in Rice.

Low light intensity affects several physiological parameters during the different growth stages in rice. Plants have various regulatory mechanisms to cope with stresses. One of them is the differential and temporal expression of genes, which is governed by post-transcriptional gene expression regulation through endogenous miRNAs.

Effect of Panicle Morphology on Grain Filling and Rice Yield: Genetic Control and Molecular Regulation.

The demand for rice is likely to increase approximately 1.5 times by the year 2050. In contrast, the rice production is stagnant since the past decade as the ongoing rice breeding program is unable to increase the production further, primarily because of the problem in grain filling.

Genes determining panicle morphology and grain quality in rice ().

The world's increase in rice (Oryza sativa L.) production is not keeping up with the increase in its population. To boost the introduction of new high-yielding cultivars, knowledge is being gained on the genes and quantitative trait loci (QTLs) determining the panicle phenotype.

Biochemical and molecular processes contributing to grain filling and yield in rice.

The increase in much required rice production through breeding programmes is on decline. The primary reason being poor filling of grains in the basal spikelets of the heavy and compact panicle rice developed. These spikelets are genetically competent to develop into well filled grains, but fail to do so because the carbohydrate assimilates available to them remain unutilized, reportedly due to poor activities of the starch biosynthesizing enzymes, high production of ethylene leading to enhanced synthesis of the downstream signaling component RSR1 protein that inhibits GBSS1 activity, poor endosperm cell division and endoreduplication of the endosperm nuclei, altered expression of the transcription factors influencing grain filling, enhanced expression and phosphorylation of 14-3-3 proteins, poor expression of the seed storage proteins, reduced synthesis of the hormones like cytokinins and IAA that promote grain filling, and altered expression of miRNAs preventing their normal role in grain filling.

Identification of novel QTLs for grain fertility and associated traits to decipher poor grain filling of basal spikelets in dense panicle rice.

High grain number is positively correlated with grain yield in rice, but it is compromised because of poor filling of basal spikelets in dense panicle bearing numerous spikelets. The phenomenon that turns the basal spikelets of compact panicle sterile in rice is largely unknown. In order to understand the factor(s) that possibly determines such spikelet sterility in compact panicle cultivars, QTLs and candidate genes were identified for spikelet fertility and associated traits like panicle compactness, and ethylene production that significantly influences the grain filling using recombinant inbred lines developed from a cross between indica rice cultivars, PDK Shriram (compact, high spikelet number) and Heera (lax, low spikelet number).

Comparative transcriptome profiling of low light tolerant and sensitive rice varieties induced by low light stress at active tillering stage.

Low light intensity is a great limitation for grain yield and quality in rice. However, yield is not significantly reduced in low light tolerant rice varieties. The work therefore planned for comparative transcriptome profiling under low light stress to decipher the genes involved and molecular mechanism of low light tolerance in rice.

Biochemical and molecular characterisation of exogenous cytokinin application on grain filling in rice.

Background: Poor filling of grains in the basal spikelets of large size panicles bearing numerous spikelets has been a major limitation in attempts to increase the rice production to feed the world's increasing population. Considering that biotechnological intervention could play important role in overcoming this limitation, the role of cytokinin in grain filling was investigated based on the information on cell proliferating potential of the hormone and reports of its high accumulation in immature seeds.

Results: A comparative study considering two rice varieties differing in panicle compactness, lax-panicle Upahar and compact-panicle OR-1918, revealed significant difference in grain filling, cytokinin oxidase (CKX) activity and expression, and expression of cell cycle regulators and cytokinin signaling components between the basal and apical spikelets of OR-1918, but not of Upahar.

Comparative proteomics of the superior and inferior spikelets at the early grain filling stage in rice cultivars contrast for panicle compactness and ethylene evolution.

The breeding programmes in rice aimed at increasing the number of spikelets per panicle have been accompanied by poor grain filling in the inferior spikelets of large panicle rice, leading to yield disadvantage. The present study attempted to understand the reason for differential grain filling in the inferior and superior spikelets by comparative proteomics considering a compact-panicle rice cultivar Mahalaxmi and a lax-panicle rice cultivar Upahar, which show poor and good grain filling, respectively. An initial study of two rice cultivars for panicle compactness and grain filling revealed an inverse correlation between the two parameters.

Biochemical and molecular characterisation of salt-induced poor grain filling in a rice cultivar.

Despite the prevalence of poor grain filling in rice (Oryza sativa L.) under abiotic stress, the reason for this is largely unexplored. Application of 0.

Identification and Characterization of Differentially Expressed Genes in Inferior and Superior Spikelets of Rice Cultivars with Contrasting Panicle-Compactness and Grain-Filling Properties.

Breeding programs for increasing spikelet number in rice have resulted in compactness of the panicle, accompanied by poor grain filling in inferior spikelets. Although the inefficient utilization of assimilate has been indicated as responsible for this poor grain filling, the underlying cause remains elusive. The current study utilized the suppression subtractive hybridization technique to identify 57 and 79 genes that overexpressed in the superior and inferior spikelets (with respect to each other), respectively, of the compact-panicle rice cultivar Mahalaxmi.

Spikelet-specific variation in ethylene production and constitutive expression of ethylene receptors and signal transducers during grain filling of compact- and lax-panicle rice (Oryza sativa) cultivars.

Grain yields in modern super rice cultivars do not always meet the expectations because many spikelets are located on secondary branches in closely packed homogeneous distribution in these plants, and they do not fill properly. The factors limiting grain filling of such spikelets, especially in the lower panicle branches, are elusive. Two long-duration rice cultivars differing in panicle density, Mahalaxmi (compact) and Upahar (lax), were cultivated in an open field plot.

Resveratrol improves postnatal hippocampal neurogenesis and brain derived neurotrophic factor in prenatally stressed rats.

Prenatal stress induced neuronal dysfunction is multifactorial, including suppressed neurogenesis in developing brain. Resveratrol is known to exert its neuroprotective potential by enhancing neurogenesis. But the efficacy of resveratrol against prenatal stress was not addressed in detail.