Abstract
Rice, generally classified as a typical glycophyte, often faces abiotic stresses such as excessive drought, high salinity, prolonged submergence, cold, and temperature, which significantly affects growth, development, and ultimately, grain yield. Among these negative impacts of abiotic factors in rice production, salinity stress is a major constraint, followed by drought. There is considerable research on the use of marker-assisted selection (MAS), genome editing techniques, and transgenic studies that have profoundly improved the present-day rice breeders’ toolboxes for developing salt-tolerant varieties. Salinity stresses significantly affect rice plants during seedling and reproductive stages. Hence, greater understanding and manipulation of genetic architecture in developing salt-tolerant rice varieties will significantly impact sustainable rice production. Rice plants’ susceptibility or tolerance to high salinity has been reported to be the result of coordinated actions of multiple stress-responsive quantitative trait loci (QTLs)/genes. This paper reviews recent literature, updating the effects of salinity stress on rice plants and germplasm collections and screening for salinity tolerance by different breeding techniques. Mapping and identification of QTLs salt tolerance genes are illuminated. The present review updates recent breeding for improvement in rice tolerance to salinity stress and how state-of-the-art tools such as MAS or genetic engineering and genome editing techniques, including mutagenesis and conventional breeding techniques, can assist in transferring salt-tolerant QTLs genes into elite rice genotypes, accelerating breeding of salt-resistant rice cultivars.
Highlights
Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the most important staple food crop for more than 3.5 billion people worldwide, in Asia and Africa
Researchers have identified some salt-tolerant rice genotypes from the collection and screening of germplasm. This information has built a foundation for rice breeders in understanding salt responsive mechanisms, mapping or identifying QTLs/genes associated with salt stresses for improving salinity resistance rice
The present review addresses recent breeding progress in improving salt tolerance in rice and discusses state-of-the-art tools such as marker-assisted selection (MAS) or genetic engineering and genome editing techniques, including mutagenesis and conventional breeding that can help transfer salt-tolerance QTLs/genes into elite rice genotype to accelerate breeding of salinity-stress resistant cultivars
Summary
Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the most important staple food crop for more than 3.5 billion people worldwide, in Asia and Africa. In light of reported studies on salinity tolerance, it is conceivable that further research should focus on discovering the major salinity resistance genes and their salt responsive mechanisms in rice. A previous study reported that a total of 23 marker-trait associations (MTAs) were mapped for salinity tolerance at the early vegetative stage using GWAS These MTAs were found on rice chromosomes 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, and 12 and observed 13.98 to 29.88 percent of the trait phenotypic variations [95]. Another study reported using 6000,000 SNPs to conduct a GWAS on the germination stage of salt-treated rice and recorded that 11 loci, including 22 significant SNPs, were responsible for stresssusceptibility indicators such as vigor index and germination time [27] In another recent GWAS study, 27 QTLs for moderate salinity-related characteristics were mapped on 12 rice chromosomes. Salinity resistance varietal development relies on identifying QTLs/genes linked to target genes and tightly linked molecular markers applied in marker-assisted selection (MAS) [103]
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