Improved Eating and Cooking Quality of indica Rice Cultivar YK17 via Adenine Base Editing of Wx^(a)Allele of Granule-Bound Starch Synthase I(GBSS I)

Amylose content(AC)is the key determinant of eating and cooking quality(ECQ)of rice.The major Wxa allele of granule-bound starch synthase I(GBSS I)in indica rice produces higher AC,making rice hard and dry after cooking.Recent work has improved ECQ of japonica rice via clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein 9(CRISPR/Cas9)or cytosine base editing(CBE)techniques.

Screening and Assessment of Selected Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) Genotypes for Drought Tolerance at Seedling Stage

This study was undertaken to investigate oxidative stress tolerant mechanisms in chilli(Capsicum annuum L.)under drought genotypes through evaluating morphological,physiological,biochemical and stomatal parameters.Twenty genotypes were evaluated for their genetic potential to drought stress tolerant at seedling stage.Thirty days old seedlings were exposed to drought stress induced by stop watering for the following 10 days and rewatering for the following one week as recovery.Based on their survival performance,two tolerant genotypes viz.BD-10906 and BD-109012 and two susceptible genotypes viz.BD-10902 and RT-20 were selected for studying the oxidative stress tolerance mechanism.Drought reduced root and shoot length,dry weight,ratio,petiole weight and leaf area in both tolerant and susceptible genotypes,and a higher reduction was observed in susceptible genotypes.Lower reduction of leaf area and photosynthetic pigments were also found in tolerant genotypes.Moreover,tolerant genotypes showed higher recovery than susceptible genotypes after the removal of stress.A higher reduction of relative water content(RWC)may cause an imbalance between absorbed and transpirated water in susceptible genotypes.Higher accumulation of proline in tolerant genotypes might be helpful to for better osmotic maintenance than that in susceptible genotypes.Tolerant genotypes showed higher antioxidant activity as they showed DPPH radical scavenging percentage than the susceptible genotypes.Moreover,closer stomata in tolerant genotypes than susceptible ones helped to avoid dehydration in tolerant genotypes.Thus,the above morphological,physiological,biochemical and stomatal parameters helped to show better tolerance in chilli under drought stress.

Oxidative Stress Tolerance Mechanism in Rice under Salinity

The research was conducted to investigate comparative oxidative damage including probable protective roles of antioxidant and glyoxalase systems in rice(Oryza sativa L.)seedlings under salinity stress.Seedlings of two rice genotypes:Pokkali(tolerant)and BRRI dhan28(sensitive)were subjected to 8 dSm^(−1) salinity stress for seven days in a hydroponic system.We observed significant variation between Pokkali and BRRI dhan28 in phenotypic,biochemical and mole-cular level under salinity stress.Carotenoid content,ion homeostasis,antioxidant enzymes,ascorbate and glutathione redox system and proline accumulation may help Pokkali to develop defense system during salinity stress.However,the activity antioxidant enzymes particularly superoxide dismutase(SOD),catalase(CAT)and non-chloroplastic peroxidase(POD)were observed significantly higher in Pokkali compared to salt-sensitive BRRI dhan28.Higher glyoxalase(Gly-I)and glyoxalase(Gly-II)activity might have also accompanied Pokkali genotype to reduce potential cytotoxic MG through non-toxic hydroxy acids conversion.However,the efficient antioxidants and glyoxalase system together increased adaptability in Pokkali during salinity stress.