Long-Term No-Tillage Direct Seeding Mode for Water-Saving and Drought-Resistance Rice Production in Rice-Rapeseed Rotation System

To study the effects of long-term no-tillage direct seeding mode on rice yield and the soil physiochemical property in a rice-rapeseed rotation system, a comparative experiment with a water-saving and drought-resistance rice （WDR） variety and a double low rapeseed variety as materials was conducted under no-tillage direct seeding （NTDS） mode and conventional tillage direct seeding （CTDS） mode for four years, using the CTDS mode as the control. Compared with the CTDS mode, the actual rice yield of WDR decreased by 8.10% at the first year, whereas the plant height, spikelet number per panicle, spikelet fertility, 1000-grain weight, grain yield, actual yield, and harvest index increased with no-tillage years, which led to the actual yield increase by 6.49% at the fourth year. Correlation analysis showed that the panicle length was significantly related to the actual yield of WDR. Compared with the CTDS mode in terms of the soil properties, the pH value of the NTDS mode decreased every year, whereas the contents of soil organic matter and total N of the NTDS mode increased. In the 0-5 cm layer of the NTDS mode, the soil bulk decreased, whereas the contents of soil organic matter, total N, and available N increased. In the 5-20 cm layer of the NTDS mode, the available N and K decreased, whereas the soil bulk, contents of soil organic matter, and total N increased. In summary, the NTDS mode increased the rice yield, and could improve the paddy soil fertility of the top layer.

Screening of Drought Stress Indicators and Analysis of Drought Resistance in Cultivated Rice Germplasm Resources in Guangxi

This study aimed to screen drought stress indicators and analyze the drought resistance in 105 cultivated rice germplasm resources in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region under drought stress in the whole growth period based on D value of seven morphological traits including panicle neck thickness,effective panicle number per plant,1 000-grain weight,filled grain number per panicle,total grain number,seed setting rate and yield per plant.According to the results,under drought stress,yield per plant exhibited significant positive correlation with panicle neck thickness and exhibited extremely significant positive correlation with other five morphological traits.Based on the identification and evaluation of comprehensive drought-resistance index D value,seven highly drought-resistant cultivated rice varieties were screened,accounting for 6.67％.Upland rice germplasm resources in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region possess strong drought-resistance capacity,which could be used to screen highly drought-resistant rice germplasm materials.This study provided material basis and theoretical reference for breeding drought resistant rice cultivars in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Breeding of a Water-saving Drought-resistant Two-line Hybrid Rice Variety Wanliangyou 1008

Drought is one of the important factors limiting rice production,and the application of new water-saving rice varieties is urgently needed in rice production.Wanliangyou 1008 bred by Institute of Rice Research,Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences is a new two line hybrid rice variety with some good traits,including high drought resistance,high yield and good disease resistance.Wanlingyou 1008 was obtained by crossing drought-resistant high-quality restorer line DJ1008 and disease-resistant two-line sterile line Wan 25S.In this paper,the breeding process,characteristics and seed production technology of the variety were described in detail.

Advance of Rice Drought Resistance,Water Saving Cultivation and Genetic Breeding

The water shortage faced with rice production in China was comprehensively analyzed,and the seasonal as well as spatial and temporal differences were the factors limiting rice production,which would be a severe test for grain production safety.Therefore,solving strategies had been proposed from the following aspects：the improvement of irrigation practices was of significant effect on improving the high efficient utilization of water;the screening of drought resistance cultivars and upland rice cultivation could also greatly improve the ability of drought resistance;the combination of traditional breeding techniques with modern transgenic technology as well as the QTL analysis had made considerable progress on improving the soil moisture productive potential of rice from the perspective of genetics.The development of China＇s rice industry would face greater water scarcity in the future,but the conventional water-saving technologies could only reduce water consume to a certain extent,while the exploration and improvement of the water saving potential of wetland rice to give full play to the biological water-saving function would become the goal of agricultural development in China.

Genetic Analysis on Characteristics to Measure Drought Resistance Using Dongxiang Wild Rice(Oryza rufupogon Griff.) and Its Derived Backcross Inbred Lines Population at Seedling Stage

Drought stress is one of the major constraints to rice （Oryza sativa L.） production and yield stability especially in rainfed ecosystems and is getting worse as the climate changes worldwide. Dongxiang wild rice （DXWR） Oryza rufipogon Griff., contains drought resistant gene. Improving drought resistance of cultivars is crucial to increase and stabilize rice grain yield via transferring resistant gene from species related to rice. In this paper, four upland rice, sixty backcross inbred lines （BILs） derived from BC1F5 of R974//DXWR/R974, and their parents were employed to evaluate drought-resistance at seedling stage in the greenhouse. Nine traits were recorded for assessment of drought resistance, including maximum root length （MRL）, number of roots （NR）, shoot length （SL）, dry root weight （DRW）, fresh root weight （FRW）, root relative water content （RRWC）, leaf relative water content （LRWC）, level for rolling leaf （LRL）, and seedling survivability under repeat drought （SSRD）. Using more than 88% of accumulative contribution resulted from the principal component analysis （PCA）, the nine traits were classified into five independent principal components and the line 1949 showed the highest resistance. Analysis on the stepwise regression equation and correlation demonstrated that MRL, RN, FRW, and RRWC significantly influenced the drought resistance, thus could be used as comprehensive index for drought resistance at the seedling stage. Using the major gene plus polygene mixed inheritance model of quantitative traits, the inheritance of drought-resistance of BIL population at seedling stage was mostly controlled by two independent genes plus polygene. As a result, the DXWR could be precious resources for genetic improvement of drought resistance in cultivated rice.

Research progress in physiological and molecular biology mechanism of drought resistance in rice

Rice is one of the most important crops, providing staple food for about half population of the world. Drought stress affects plant growth and development seriously. This article reviewed the research progress of the physiological and molecular biology mechanism including osmotic adjustment, scavenging oxidative radicals, endogenous hormones, drought-resistance genes and epigenetic modification, it may be afford interrelated reference for increasing rice drought resistance and breeding drought resistance rice varieties.

Relationship Between Coleoptile Length and Drought Resistance and Their QTL Mapping in Rice

By using a set of recombinant inbred line （RIL） population involving in 195 lines derived from a cross of Zhenshan 97B （lowland variety） and IRAT109 （upland variety）, the correlation analysis between coleoptile length （CL） and drought resistance index （DRI） and their QTL identification were conducted. There existed a significantly positive relationship between CL and DRI with the correlation coefficient of 0.2206＊＊ under water stress conditions. Under normal and water stress conditions, a total of eleven and four QTLs for CL and DRI, respectively, were detected on chromosomes 1,2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11 and 12 by using a linkage map including 213 SSR markers, which explained 4.84% to 22.65% of phenotypic variance. Chromosomes 1 and 9 possessing the QTLs for DRI harbored simultaneously QTLs for CL, and qCL9 shared the same chromosome location with qDR19 （RM160-RM215）. Comparing the QTLs related to drought resistance in other studies, QTLs for CL and DRI were located in the same or adjacent marker interval as those related to root traits, such as number, dry weight, depth, and length of root. Moreover, sixteen and three pairs of epistatic loci for CL and DRI were found, which accounted for 56.17% and 11.93% of the total variation in CL and DRI, respectively.

Association and Heritability Studies for Drought Resistance under Varied Moisture Stress Regimes in Backcross Inbred Population of Rice

Drought stress is one of the major constraints affecting rice production and yield stability in the rainfed regions. To understand the physiological basis of drought resistance related component traits, we used a backcross inbred population of rice under three kinds of moisture regimes viz., non-stress, moderate （24.48%） and severe stress （73.97%） conditions which reflect the differential responses of the genotypes to varying stress intensities. The plot yield, 1000-grain weight, panicle exsertion and canopy air temperature difference exhibited high heritability under the control conditions, whereas spikelet sterility and single plant yield exhibited high heritability under the moderate stress conditions. Traits such as days to 50% flowering, plant height and osmotic potential showed high heritability under the severe stress conditions. Plot yield under stress was significantly and positively correlated with harvest index and 1000-grain weight, but negatively associated with leaf rolling score and days to 50% flowering. The drought susceptibility index and drought response index were negatively correlated between each other both under the moderate and severe stress conditions. The derived traits viz., difference in panicle length between the control and the severe stress was associated with osmotic adjustment measured under field conditions. Difference in plant height and panicle length was negatively associated with plot yield under stress.

Evaluation of Inherited Resistance Genes of Bacterial Leaf Blight, Blast and Drought Tolerance in Improved Rice Lines

Improved rice lines were developed frome three parents with the resistance or tolerance to bacterial leaf blight,blast and drought stress,respectively,using single-,double-and three-way crosses.The improved lines were assessed for agro-morphological and yield traits under non-drought stress(NS)and reproductive-stage drought stress(RS)treatments.The mean comparison of traits measured between parent plants and progenies(improved lines)were similar,and there were significant and non-significant differences among the parents and improved lines(genotypes)under NS and RS.Smilarly,there was significant and non-significant differences in the interaction among both parent varieties and improved lines for NS and RS.Cluster and 3D-model of principal component analysis did not generate categorical clusters according to crossing methods,and there were no exclusive crossing method inclined variations under the treatments.The improved lines were high-yielding,disease resistant,and drought-tolerant compared with their parents.All the crossing methods were good for this crop improvement program without preference to any,despite the number of genes introgressed.

Improvement of Upland Rice Variety by Pyramiding Drought Tolerance QTL with Two Major Blast Resistance Genes for Sustainable Rice Production

Varalu is an early maturing rice variety widely grown in the rainfed ecosystem preferred for its grain type and cooking quality.However,the yield of Varalu is substantially low since it is being affected by reproductive drought stress along with the blast disease.The genetic improvement of Varalu was done by introgressing a major yield QTL,qDTY_(12.1),along with two major blast resistance genes i.e.Pi54 and Pi1 through marker-assisted backcross breeding.Both traits were transferred till BC_(2) generation and intercrossing was followed to pyramid the two traits.Stringent foreground selection was carried out using linked markers as well as peak markers(RM28099,RM28130,RM511 and RM28163)for the targeted QTL(qDTY_(12.1)),RM206 for Pi54 and RM224 for Pi1.Extensive background selection was done using genome-wide SSR markers.Six best lines(MSM-36,MSM-49,MSM-53,MSM-57,MSM-60 and MSM-63)having qDTY_(12.1) and two blast resistance genes in homozygous condition with recurrent parent genome of 95.0%-96.5% having minimal linkage drag of about 0.1 to 0.7 Mb were identified.These lines showed yield advantage under drought stress as well as irrigated conditions.MSM-36 showed better performance in the national coordinated trials conducted across India,which indicated that improved lines of Varalu expected to replace Varalu and may have an important role in sustaining rice production.The present study demonstrated the successful marker-assisted pyramiding strategy for introgression of genes/QTLs conferring biotic stress resistance and yield under abiotic stress in rice.

Comparison of Rice Yield and Evaluation Methods for Drought Resistance under Drought Stress in the Whole Growth Period and Flowering Period

[Objectives]This study was conducted to improve the drought resistance of rice and cultivate new varieties of drought-tolerant rice to effectively alleviate the reduction in rice yield caused by drought.[Methods]Twenty two indica and japonica rice varieties were tested to compare the yield differences under drought stress in the whole growth period and under drought stress in the flowering period.[Results]Drought stress in the whole growth period and flowering period significantly reduced rice yield,as well as the number of filled grains per plant,the number of filled grains per panicle and grain weight per plant.To evaluate the drought tolerance of rice varieties,relative yield could be used as the index under both drought stresses in the whole growth period and the flowering period.[Conclusions]This study provides a theoretical reference for drought-tolerant rice breeding and screening.

Screening of Drought Resistance Identification Indexes for Rice(Oryza sativa L.) Cultivars in Ningxia

The morphological characters, physiological characters, yield traits and yield per plant of total 49 rice cultivars from Ningxia were investigated under conditions of water stress and non-water stress so as to determine the relationship between each trait and yield per plant under water stress and the relationship between each relative character and drought resistance coefficient under water stress and non-water stress. The correlation, grey correlation, stepwise regression and path analyses showed that the tiller number per plant, plant height, grain density, effective panicle number per plant and grain number per panicle, total 5 traits, were significantly correlated with the drought resistance of rice, and they could be used to identify the drought resistance of rice in Ningxia. In addition, the drought resistance of rice was graded qualitatively according to the subordinate function value of corresponding drought resistance coefficient. The results showed that among the 49 rice cultivars from Ningxia,6 rice cultivars were highly drought resistant, and 9 rice cultivars were moderately drought resistant, suggesting that the evaluation method was feasible and effective.

Advances in Research on Drought Resistance in Rice

Rice is the main grain crop in China. With global warming, drought and water shortage have become one of the important factors limiting rice production. Improving the drought resistance of rice can effectively alleviate the loss of rice yield caused by drought. In this paper, the research progress on rice drought resistance and its evaluation methods, mapping of QTLs for drought resistance-related traits, and mining for drought resistance genes were reviewed, and molecular breeding for drought resistance in rice was prospected.

Aβ-Carotene Ketolase Gene NfcrtO from Subaerial Cyanobacteria Confers Drought Tolerance in Rice

Nostoc flagelliforme is a terrestrial cyanobacterium that can resist many types of stressors,including drought,ultraviolet radiation,and extreme temperatures.In this study,we identified the drought tolerance gene NfcrtO,which encodes aβ-carotene ketolase,through screening the transcriptome of N.flagelliforme under water loss stress.Prokaryotic expression of NfcrtO under 0.6 mol/L sorbitol or under 0.3 mol/L NaCl stress significantly increased the growth rate of Escherichia coli.When NfcrtO was heterologously expressed in rice,the seedling height and root length of NfcrtO-overexpressing rice plants were significantly higher than those of the wild type(WT)plants grown on½Murashige and Skoog solid medium with 120 mmol/L mannitol at the seedling stage.Transcriptome analysis revealed that NfcrtO was involved in osmotic stress,antioxidant,and other stress-related pathways.Additionally,the survival rate of the NfcrtO-overexpression lines was significantly higher than that of the WT line under both hydroponic stress(24%PEG and 100 mmol/L H_(2)O_(2))and soil drought treatment at the seedling stage.Physiological traits,including the activity levels of superoxide dismutase,peroxidase,catalase,total antioxidant capacity,and the contents of proline,trehalose,and soluble sugar,were significantly improved in the NfcrtO-overexpression lines relative to those in the WT line under 20%PEG treatment.Furthermore,when water was withheld at the booting stage,the grain yield per plant of NfcrtO-overexpression lines was significantly higher than that of the WT line.Yeast two-hybrid analysis identified interactions between NfcrtO and Dna J protein,E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase,and pyrophosphate-energized vacuolar membrane proton pump.Thus,heterologous expression of NfcrtO in rice could significantly improve the tolerance of rice to osmotic stress,potentially facilitating the development of new rice varieties.

Changes in DNA Methylation Pattern at Two Seedling Stages in Water Saving and Drought-Resistant Rice Variety after Drought Stress Domestication

Recent studies revealed that DNA methylation plays an important role in plant growth and development. In this study, a water-saving and drought-resistant rice variety Huhan 3 was subjected to drought stress from tillering to grain-filling stages in six successive growth cycles. The variations in DNA methylation pattern between the original generation （Go） and the sixth generation （G6） were analyzed by using methylation sensitive amplification polymorphism method. The results revealed that the methylated loci accounted for 34.3% to 34.8% of the total loci. Among these methylated loci, 83.1% to 84.8% were full- and hyper-methylated and 15.2% to 16.9% were hemi-methylated. The DNA methylation level decreased from the three-leaf to four-leaf stages in Huhan 3. Differentially methylated loci （DML） between generations or/and between different developmental stages accounted for 4.0% of the total loci, most of which were only related to plant development （57.9%）. Compared to Go, the DNA methylation pattern of G8 changed after drought domestication, at the three-leaf stage, de-methylation accounting for 59.1%, while at the four-leaf stage, re-methylation for 47.9%. Genome-wide alternations of DNA methylation were observed between the two seedling stages, and DML mainly occurred on the gene＇s promoter and exon region. The genes related to DML involved in a wide range of functional biology and participated in many important biological processes.

Drought-resistant Hybrid Millet under Watersaving Irrigation in Extreme Drought Area of Dunhuang City

[Objective]This study aimed to select hybrid mil et varieties those can produce high yield under water-saving irrigation conditions. [Method] From 2011 to 2013, drought-resistant experiments on 200 hybrid mil et combinations were carried out in the three consecutive years in Dunhuang City. Plastic film was covered on the soil surface in one treatment （F） and was not in the other treatment （NF）. Irri-gation was only performed once before sowing. At seedling stage, jointing stage, heading stage and fil ing stage, we measured the water contents of soil at 0-20, 20-40, 40-60, 60-80, 80-100 and 100-120 cm deep. Plant height, panicle length, til er number, grain weight per ear, grain weight per plant, grass weight and above-ground biomass were measured from a bulk of eight plants in each plot. Grain yield per plot was measured final y. [Result] Under the only irrigation of 1 200 m3/hm2 before sowing, 18 hybrid mil et combinations exhibited stronger resistance to drought, and four of them： 13DH2, 13DH3, 13DH8 and 13DH9 produced grain more than 3 000 kg/hm2. The yield of hybrid mil et combination 13DH8 was up to 6 000 kg/hm2 under the only irrigation of 1 200 m3/hm2, i.e. 1 m3 of water could produce 5 kg of grain on average. Therefore, application of this cultivation technology could increase arable land of irrigated arid area by several times. In addition, irrigation of 1 200 m3/hm2 is equivalent to 120 mm of rainfal; so this cultivation technology also can be applied in arid area with 200 mm of rainfal . [Conclusion] The cultivation technology can cope with the occurrence of extreme weather, protect water re-sources and enlarge global grain planting area. At the same time, it also ensures food production and food safety.

Screening for Osmotic Stress Responses in Rice Varieties under Drought Condition

Drought is the major abiotic stress factor that limits rice production worldwide.To evaluate the osmotic stress responses in rice varieties under drought condition,a total of 42 high-yielding rice varieties were collected from various research stations of Kerala Agricultural University in India.The experimental setup comprises of initial hydroponic treatments at different osmotic potentials,artificially induced by desired strengths of polyethylene glycol(PEG6000),and followed by the pot planted experiments in the rain-out-zone.The activities of antioxidant enzymes,relative water content,cell membrane stability,photosynthetic pigments,proline content,along with plant growth parameters of the varieties under drought condition were evaluated.Moreover,the standard scores of these rice varieties were assessed under stress and recovery conditions based on the scoring scale of the Standard Evaluation System for rice.Among the 42 rice varieties,we identified 2 rice varieties,Swarnaprabha and Kattamodan,with less leaf rolling,better drought recovery ability as well as relative water content,increased membrane stability index,osmolyte accumulation,and antioxidant enzyme activities pointed towards their degree of tolerance to drought stress.The positive adaptive responses of these rice varieties towards drought stress can be used in the genetic improvement of rice drought resistance breeding program.

Field identification of morphological and physiological traits in two special mutants with strong tolerance and high sensitivity to drought stress in upland rice(Oryza sativa L.)

The two mutants idr1-1 and 297-28, which were obtained from the radiation mutation of HD297 and IAPAR9, were used as experimental materials in this study for a 2-year(2012 and 2013) experiment about field drought resistance identification in Beijing, China. Key agronomic traits and water-related physiological indexes were observed and measured, including the leaf anti-dead level(LADL), days to heading, plant height, setting percentage, aboveground biomass, leaf water potential(LWP), net photosynthetic rate(Pn) and transpiration rate. The results showed that the mutant idr1-1 that was under drought stress(DS) conditions for 2 years had the highest LADL grades(1.3 and 2.0) among all the materials, and they were 2–3 grades stronger than the wild-type IAPAR9 with an average that was 21.4% higher for the setting percentage than the wild type. Compared with the IAPAR9 for the 2-year average delay in the days to heading and the reduction rates in the plant height, setting percentage, and aboveground biomass under DS compared with the well-watered(WW) treatment, idr1-1 showed 3.2% less delay and 19.1, 16.4, and 6.1% less reduction, respectively. The idr1-1 in the LWP always exhibited the highest performance among all the materials. The Pn of idr1-1 under severe and mild DS comparing with that under WW was slightly decreased and even slightly increased, respectively, leading to an average reduction rate of only 0.92%, which was 26.93% less than that of IAPAR9. Under the severe DS, idr1-1 still showed the highest value of 16.88 μmol CO2 m–2 s–1 among all the materials and was significantly higher than that of IAPAR9(11.66 μmol CO2 m–2 s–1). Furthermore, only idr1-1 had the increased and the highest transpiration rate values(7.6 and 6.04 mmol H2 O m–2 s–1) under both mild and severe DS compared with the values under WW, when the transpiration rate of all the other materials significantly decreased. By contrast, the 297-28 in terms of the LADL grade under DS was the lowest(7.0), and it was four grades weaker than its wildtype HD297 and even one grade weaker than the drought-sensitive paddy rice SN265. For the 2-year average reduction rates in aboveground biomass and plant heights under DS compared with those under the WW, 297-28 was 31.6 and 31.8% higher than HD297, respectively. Meanwhile, 297-28 showed the worst performance for the LWP, Pn, and transpiration rate. These results suggest that idr1-1 might be a superior drought tolerant mutant of upland rice found in China. It has a strong ability to maintain and even enhance leaf transpiration while maintaining a high plant water potential under DS, thus supporting a high Pn and alleviating the delay in agronomic trait development and yield loss effectively. 297-28 is a much more highly drought-sensitive mutant that is even more sensitive than paddy rice varieties. The two mutants could be used as drought tolerance controls for rice germplasm identification and the drought resistant mechanism studies in the future. idr1-1 is also suitable for breeding drought-tolerant and lodging-resistant high-yield rice varieties.

The OsNAC41-RoLe1-OsAGAP module promotes root development and drought resistance in upland rice

Drought is a major environmental stress limiting crop yields worldwide.Upland rice(Oryza sativa)has evolved complex genetic mechanisms for adaptative growth under drought stress.However,few genetic variants that mediate drought resistance in upland rice have been identified,and little is known about the evolution of this trait during rice domestication.In this study,using a genome-wide association study we identified ROOT LENGTH 1(RoLe1)that controls rice root length and drought resistance.We found that a G-to-T polymorphism in the RoLe1 promoter causes increased binding of the transcription factor OsNAC41 and thereby enhanced expression of RoLe1.We further showed that RoLe1 interacts with OsAGAP,an ARF-GTPase activating protein involved in auxin-dependent root development,and interferes with its function to modulate root development.Interestingly,RoLe1 could enhance crop yield by increasing the seed-setting rate under moderate drought conditions.Genomic evolutionary analysis revealed that a newly arisen favorable allelic variant,proRoLe1−526T,originated from the midwest Asia and was retained in upland rice during domestication.Collectively,our study identifies an OsNAC41-RoLe1-OsAGAP module that promotes upland rice root development and drought resistance,providing promising genetic targets for molecular breeding of drought-resistant rice varieties.

Genome-Wide Association Studies of Image Traits Reveal Genetic Architecture of Drought Resistance in Rice

Understanding how plants respond to drought can benefit drought resistance （DR） breeding. Using a non-destructive phenotyping facility, 51 image-based traits （i-traits） for 507 rice accessions were extracted. These i-traits can be used to monitor drought responses and evaluate DR. High heritability and large variation of these traits was observed under drought stress in the natural population. A genome-wide as- sociation study （GWAS） of i-traits and traditional DR traits identified 470 association loci, some containing known DR-related genes. Of these 470 loci, 443 loci （94%） were identified using i-traits, 437 loci （93%） co- localized with previously reported DR-related quantitative trait loci, and 313 loci （66.6%） were reproducibly identified by GWAS in different years. Association networks, established based on GWAS results, revealed hub i-traits and hub loci. This demonstrates the feasibility and necessity of dissecting the complex DR trait into heritable and simple i-traits. As proof of principle, we illustrated the power of this integrated approach to identify previously unreported DR-related genes. OsPP15 was associated with a hub i-trait, and its role in DR was confirmed by genetic transformation experiments. Furthermore, i-traits can be used for DR linkage analyses, and 69 i-trait locus associations were identified by both GWAS and linkage analysis of a recom- binant inbred line population. Finally, we confirmed the relevance of i-traits to DR in the field. Our study pro- vides a promising novel approach for the genetic dissection and discovery of causal genes for DR.