Search

High night‐temperature (HNT) stress during the reproductive stage of rice (Oryza sativa L.) reduces spikelet fertility and yield by inhibiting important physiological processes. However, specifics such as the period of time that is most sensitive to HNT, is unknown. To investigate this, we conducted four controlled‐environment experiments with two rice cultivars, N22 (HNT tolerant) and WAB56–104 (HNT susceptible). These cultivars were exposed to varying durations and intensities of night temperatures (control, 24°C; HNT, 30 and 35°C) during the reproductive stage. The effect of HNT on spikelet fertility and grain weight varied with duration: spikelet fertility reduced by 47–77% when exposed to HNT for 15 nights, 6–29% when exposed for four nights, and 9–15% when exposed for 5.5 h (pre‐midnight, 1830–0000 h or post‐midnight, 0000–0530 h) for four nights. Spikelet fertility and grain weight were most sensitive to HNT during the first 4 d of anthesis, compared with 1–4, 5–8, and 9–12 d before anthesis. At anthesis, reduction in spikelet fertility did not differ significantly between pre‐ and post‐midnight high‐temperature treatments. Our results suggest that greatest sensitivity to HNT during the reproductive stage occurs during the first 4 d of anthesis, providing a reference for future studies involving HNT tolerance in rice.

Elucidating the genetic control of rooting behavior under water-deficit stress is essential to breed climate-robust rice (Oryza sativa) cultivars. Using a diverse panel of 274 indica 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. We then carried out a genome-wide association analysis on these traits and their plasticity, using 45,608 high-quality single-nucleotide polymorphisms. One hundred four significant loci were detected for these traits under control conditions, 106 were detected under water-deficit stress, and 76 were detected for trait plasticity. We predicted 296 (control), 284 (water-deficit stress), and 233 (plasticity) a priori candidate genes within linkage disequilibrium blocks for these loci. We identified key a priori candidate genes regulating root growth and development and relevant alleles that, upon validation, can help improve rice adaptation to water-deficit stress.

High night temperature (HNT) significantly influences rice grain filling dynamics. A novel phenotyping approach using chlorophyll fluorescence was employed to track changes in the optical properties of maturing rice panicles exposed to control and HNT. Two contrasting rice genotypes, Gharib (HNT sensitive) and N22 (highly tolerant), were exposed to control (23 °C) and HNT (29 °C), from panicle initiation till maturity. Changes in the optical properties of rice panicles throughout maturity were evaluated under field conditions by measuring (i) effective quantum yield of photosystem II efficiency ( Φ II ), (ii) steady-state chlorophyll fluorescence ( F S ) and (iii) ratio of emitted chlorophyll fluorescence at 690 and 735 nm, under excitation at 435 nm ( F 690 / F 735 ). Numerous vegetative indices (Vis) were correlated with fluorescence measurements to prove the accuracy of the phenotyping method. Φ II was selected as the most potent fluorescence parameter (i) to track changing optical properties of maturing rice panicles under both control and HNT and (ii) to estimate the elusive change point initiating rice panicle senescence. Detection of Φ II change point allows for larger genetic diversity scans under field conditions and for identifying novel donors for increasing rice yields and incorporating resilient strategies to reduce impact of HNT stress on grain-filling.

Night temperature (NT) increases faster than day temperature with global warming and this may have strong implications for crop yield. One of the assumptions is the increase in night respiration and thus the increase in carbon losses over time. Some rice cultivars (indica, aus and japonica types) were grown in the field in the Philippines and in heated greenhouses in Montpellier, France, to quantify the response of respiration to increased NT and its implication at crop level. Increased NT by 3.8 and 5.4 °C over the whole crop cycle in two greenhouse experiments and by 1.9 °C in the field from 33 days after transplanting up to maturity using a free-air-controlled enhancement increased night respiration rate significantly. Overall, the cost in CH 2 O of night respiration over crop duration was 17 to 20% (field) and 8 to 18% (greenhouse) of the potential shoot dry matter (including that lost by respiration). Additional respiratory burden due to increased NT was only 1 to 7% of the potential shoot dry matter at maturity, and was not associated with significant loss in additional dry matter. The absence of any dry matter reduction with increased NT within indica cultivars questions the assumptions of recent papers.

Global warming causes night temperature (NT) to increase faster than day temperature in the tropics. According to crop growth models, respiration incurs a loss of 40-60% of photosynthate. The thermal sensitivity of night respiration (R(n)) will thus reduce biomass. Instantaneous and acclimated effects of NT on R(n) of leaves and seedlings of two rice cultivars having a variable level of carbohydrates, induced by exposure to different light intensity on the previous day, were investigated. Experiments were conducted in a greenhouse and growth chambers, with R(n) measured on the youngest fully expanded leaves or whole seedlings. Dry weight-based R(n) was 2.6-fold greater for seedlings than for leaves. Leaf R(n) was linearly related to starch (positive intercept) and soluble sugar concentration (zero intercept). Increased NT caused higher R(n) at a given carbohydrate concentration. The change of R(n) at NT increasing from 21 °C to 31 °C was 2.4-fold for the instantaneous response but 1.2- to 1.7-fold after acclimation. The maintenance component of R(n) (R(m)'), estimated by assimilate starvation, averaged 28% in seedlings and 34% in leaves, with no significant thermal effect on this ratio. The acclimated effect of increased NT on R(m)' across experiments was 1.5-fold for a 10 °C increase in NT. No cultivar differences were observed in R(n) or R(m)' responses. The results suggest that the commonly used Q10=2 rule overestimates thermal response of respiration, and R(n) largely depends on assimilate resources.

Climate change is increasing night temperature (NT) more than day temperature (DT) in rice-growing areas. Effects of combinations of NT (24−35°C) from microsporogenesis to anthesis at one or more DT (30 or 35°C) at anthesis on rice spikelet fertility, temperature within spikelets, flowering pattern, grain weight per panicle, amylose content and gel consistency were investigated in contrasting rice cultivars under controlled environments. Cultivars differed in spikelet fertility response to high NT, with higher fertility associated with cooler spikelets (P 27°C was estimated to reduce grain weight. Generally, high NT was more damaging to grain weight and selected grain quality traits than high DT, with little or no interaction between them. The critical tolerance and escape traits identified, i.e. spikelet cooling, relatively high spikelet fertility, earlier start and peak time of anthesis and shorter spikelet anthesis duration can aid plant breeding programs targeting resilience in warmer climates.

Cereals such as rice, wheat, maize, and barley account for major proportion of global food grain production. High temperature, drought, and other climate change drivers are predicted to increase in frequency and magnitude, posing serious challenges to sustain global food production under changing climate. These climate change drivers often interact with each other under realistic field conditions resulting in impacts that are notably different compared to individual stress exposure. Till date, there has been no systematic synthesis comparing the impacts of different combinations of high temperature, drought, and elevated CO 2 [eCO 2 ], across cereals. Hence, the major objective of this chapter is to capture the overall agronomic and physiological impact of different combinations of these three factors compared with their independent exposure. High temperature or drought affects almost all growth and developmental phases during crop cycle leading to significant decline in photosynthesis, floral abnormalities, spikelet/kernel sterility, grain yield, and quality losses. Combined high temperature and drought stress can result in additive detrimental effect on growth physiology and productivity. On the other hand, interactive effect of [eCO 2 ] with either high temperature or drought varies with species (C 3 and C 4 ), and also depends on other factors such as phenological stage, intensity and duration of stress, etc. Constraints and available avenues for breeding multiple abiotic stress tolerant cereals, role of modern genomic tools, precision phenotyping, and trait-based breeding program are highlighted. Finally, the chapter summarizes future research direction, in addressing combined stress resilience to ensure sustained global food security under warmer and drier climate.