Abstract
Drought is the leading threat to agricultural food production, especially in the cultivation of rice, a semi-aquatic plant. Drought tolerance is a complex quantitative trait with a complicated phenotype that affects different developmental stages in plants. The level of susceptibility or tolerance of rice to several drought conditions is coordinated by the action of different drought-responsive genes in relation with other stress components which stimulate signal transduction pathways. Interdisciplinary researchers have broken the complex mechanism of plant tolerance using various methods such as genetic engineering or marker-assisted selection to develop a new cultivar with improved drought resistance. The main objectives of this review were to highlight the current method of developing a durable drought-resistant rice variety through conventional breeding and the use of biotechnological tools and to comprehensively review the available information on drought-resistant genes, QTL analysis, gene transformation and marker-assisted selection. The response, indicators, causes, and adaptation processes to the drought stress were discussed in the review. Overall, this review provides a systemic glimpse of breeding methods from conventional to the latest innovation in molecular development of drought-tolerant rice variety. This information could serve as guidance for researchers and rice breeders.
Highlights
Rice is a major staple food consumed by more than one-third of the world’s population, providing up to 80% of the daily calories intake of a vast majority of the human population, especially in Asia [1]
When a fusion trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase (TPP)/trehalose-6-phosphate synthase (TPS) gene derived from Escherichia coli was engineered into rice, the results showed an increase in trehalose, improvement in drought tolerance and the rice plant exhibiting less photooxidation in cold and salt stress [78]
Evaluation for drought resistance should be in association with related abiotic stresses such as salinity and high temperature because of their correlations with drought stress
Summary
Rice is a major staple food consumed by more than one-third of the world’s population, providing up to 80% of the daily calories intake of a vast majority of the human population, especially in Asia [1]. As a result of drought stress, yield loss can rise up to about 100% depending on the growth stage of the plant. The increase in drought severity coupled with lack of high-yielding genotypes that are suitable for cultivation under drought conditions are the most limiting factors responsible for low production of rice. When the environmental condition is less than the optimum requirement, plants become stressed and this adversely affects their productivity, growth and development [1]. Terminal drought condition is caused by a lack or decrease in water available to plants, leading to severe drought stress and the resultant death of the plant. Drought tolerance or resistance mechanisms depend on the ability of plant survival in maintaining function under terminal and intermittent drought conditions. The objectives of this review were (i) to describe the current method of developing a durable rice drought resistant variety through conventional breeding and the use of biotechnological tools and (ii) to comprehensively review the available information on drought-resistant genes, QTL analysis, gene transformation and marker-assisted selection
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