Farmland is on the decline and worldwide food security is at risk. Rice is the staple of choice for over half the Earth’s people. To sustain current demands and ascertain a food secure future, substandard farmland affected by abiotic stresses must be utilized. For rapid crop improvement, a broader understanding of polygenic traits like stress tolerance and crop yield is indispensable. To this end, the hidden diversity of resilient and neglected wild varieties must be traced back to their genetic roots. In this study, we separately assayed 11 phenotypes in a panel of 176 diverse accessions predominantly comprised of local landraces from Bangladesh. We compiled high resolution sequence data for these accessions. We collectively studied the ties between the observed phenotypic differences and the examined additive genetic effects underlying these variations. We applied a fixed effect model to associate phenotypes with genotypes on a genomic scale. Discovered QTLs were mapped to known genes. Our explorations yielded 13 QTLs related to various traits in multiple trait classes. 10 identified QTLs were equivalent to findings from previous studies. Integrative analysis assumes potential novel functionality for a number of candidate genes. These findings will usher novel avenues for the bioengineering of high yielding crops of the future fortified with genetic defenses against abiotic stressors.

No abstract

The coastal area of Bangladesh is affected by soil salinity which threatens rice production. Saline soils are mainly caused by excessive Na+ which interferes with the uptake of the essential nutrient K+. Certain K+ transporters may cause leakage of Na+ ions and the OsAKT1 transporter was earlier shown to be downregulated under salt stress in a tolerant rice landrace called Horkuch. We therefore targeted this gene for Crispr-mediated downregulation by Agrobacterium-mediated in planta transformation in salt sensitive IR29 rice. The gene was shown to be significantly downregulated in at least 3 independent transformants. One of the gene edited IR29 transformants showed significantly high survival, low loss in chlorophyll content, low electrolyte leakage as well as low H2O2 after 15-days of salt stress at 120mM NaCl at the T3 generation. Therefore the potassium transporter OsAKT1 gene is a good target for downregulation to produce salt tolerant rice. Plant Tissue Cult. & Biotech. 33(1): 71-84, 2023 (June)

Farmland is on the decline and worldwide food security is at risk. Rice is the staple of choice for over half the Earth’s people. To sustain current demands and ascertain a food secure future, substandard farmland affected by abiotic stresses must be utilized. For rapid crop improvement, a broader understanding of polygenic traits like stress tolerance and crop yield is indispensable. To this end, the hidden diversity of resilient and neglected wild varieties must be traced back to their genetic roots. In this study, we separately assayed 15 phenotypes in a panel of 176 diverse accessions predominantly comprised of local landraces from Bangladesh. We compiled high resolution sequence data for these accessions. We collectively studied the ties between the observed phenotypic differences and the examined additive genetic effects underlying these variations. We applied a sophisticated fixed effect model to associate phenotypes with genotypes on a genomic scale. Discovered QTLs were mapped to known genes. Candidate genes were sorted by tissue specific gene expression profiles and protein level consequence of existing polymorphisms. Our explorations yielded 17 QTLs related to various traits in multiple trait classes. 12 identified QTLs were equivalent to findings from previous studies. Integrative analysis assumes novel functionality for 21 candidate genes on multiple evidence levels. These findings will usher novel avenues for the bioengineering of high yielding crops of the future fortified with genetic defenses against abiotic stressors.