Advances in Rice Research for Abiotic Stress Tolerance provides an important guide to recognizing, assessing and addressing the broad range of environmental factors that can inhibit rice yield. As a staple food for nearly half of the world's population, and in light of projected population growth, improving and increasing rice yield is imperative. This book presents current research on abiotic stresses including extreme temperature variance, drought, hypoxia, salinity, heavy metal, nutrient deficiency and toxicity stresses. Going further, it identifies a variety of approaches to alleviate the damaging effects and improving the stress tolerance of rice. Advances in Rice Research for Abiotic Stress Tolerance provides an important reference for those ensuring optimal yields from this globally important food crop. - Covers aspects of abiotic stress, from research, history, practical field problems faced by rice, and the possible remedies to the adverse effects of abiotic stresses - Provides practical insights into a wide range of management and crop improvement practices - Presents a valuable, single-volume sourcebook for rice scientists dealing with agronomy, physiology, molecular biology and biotechnology

This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. By 2050, human population is expected to reach 9.7 billion. The demand for increased food production needs to be met from ever reducing resources of land, water and other environmental constraints. Rice remains the staple food source for a majority of the global populations, but especially in Asia where ninety percent of rice is grown and consumed. Climate change continues to impose abiotic and biotic stresses that curtail rice quality and yields. Researchers have been challenged to provide innovative solutions to maintain, or even increase, rice production. Amongst them, the ‘green super rice’ breeding strategy has been successful for leading the development and release of multiple abiotic and biotic stress tolerant rice varieties. Recent advances in plant molecular biology and biotechnologies have led to the identification of stress responsive genes and signaling pathways, which open up new paradigms to augment rice productivity. Accordingly, transcription factors, protein kinases and enzymes for generating protective metabolites and proteins all contribute to an intricate network of events that guard and maintain cellular integrity. In addition, various quantitative trait loci associated with elevated stress tolerance have been cloned, resulting in the detection of novel genes for biotic and abiotic stress resistance. Mechanistic understanding of the genetic basis of traits, such as N and P use, is allowing rice researchers to engineer nutrient-efficient rice varieties, which would result in higher yields with lower inputs. Likewise, the research in micronutrients biosynthesis opens doors to genetic engineering of metabolic pathways to enhance micronutrients production. With third generation sequencing techniques on the horizon, exciting progress can be expected to vastly improve molecular markers for gene-trait associations forecast with increasing accuracy. This book emphasizes on the areas of rice science that attempt to overcome the foremost limitations in rice production. Our intention is to highlight research advances in the fields of physiology, molecular breeding and genetics, with a special focus on increasing productivity, improving biotic and abiotic stress tolerance and nutritional quality of rice.

This eBook is a collection of articles from a Frontiers Research Topic. Frontiers Research Topics are very popular trademarks of the Frontiers Journals Series: they are collections of at least ten articles, all centered on a particular subject. With their unique mix of varied contributions from Original Research to Review Articles, Frontiers Research Topics unify the most influential researchers, the latest key findings and historical advances in a hot research area! Find out more on how to host your own Frontiers Research Topic or contribute to one as an author by contacting the Frontiers Editorial Office: frontiersin.org/about/contact.

Plants have to manage a series of environmental stresses throughout their entire lifespan. Among these, abiotic stress is the most detrimental; one that is responsible for nearly 50% of crop yield reduction and appears to be a potential threat to global food security in coming decades. Plant growth and development reduces drastically due to adverse effects of abiotic stresses. It has been estimated that crop can exhibit only 30% of their genetic potentiality under abiotic stress condition. So, this is a fundamental need to understand the stress responses to facilitate breeders to develop stress resistant and stress tolerant cultivars along with good management practices to withstand abiotic stresses. Also, a holistic approach to understanding the molecular and biochemical interactions of plants is important to implement the knowledge of resistance mechanisms under abiotic stresses. Agronomic practices like selecting cultivars that is tolerant to wide range of climatic condition, planting date, irrigation scheduling, fertilizer management could be some of the effective short-term adaptive tools to fight against abiotic stresses. In addition, “system biology” and “omics approaches” in recent studies offer a long-term opportunity at the molecular level in dealing with abiotic stresses. The genetic approach, for example, selection and identification of major conditioning genes by linkage mapping and quantitative trait loci (QTL), production of mutant genes and transgenic introduction of novel genes, has imparted some tolerant characteristics in crop varieties from their wild ancestors. Recently research has revealed the interactions between micro-RNAs (miRNAs) and plant stress responses exposed to salinity, freezing stress and dehydration. Accordingly transgenic approaches to generate stress-tolerant plant are one of the most interesting researches to date. This book presents the recent development of agronomic and molecular approaches in conferring plant abiotic stress tolerance in an organized way. The present volume will be of great interest among research students and teaching community, and can also be used as reference material by professional researchers.

Photosynthesis: Physiology and Metabolism is the we have concentrated on the acquisition and ninth volume in theseries Advances in Photosynthesis metabolism of carbon. However, a full understanding (Series Editor, Govindjee). Several volumes in this of reactions involved in the conversion of to series have dealt with molecular and biophysical sugars requires an integrated view of metabolism. aspects of photosynthesis in the bacteria, algae and We have, therefore, commissioned international cyanobacteria, focussing largely on what have been authorities to write chapters on, for example, traditionally, though inaccurately, termed the ‘light interactionsbetween carbon and nitrogen metabolism, reactions’(Volume 1, The Molecular Biology of on respiration in photosynthetic tissues and on the Cyanobacteria;Volume2,AnoxygenicPhotosynthetic control of gene expression by metabolism. Photo- Bacteria, Volume 3, Biophysical Techniques in synthetic carbon assimilation is also one of the most Photosynthesis and Volume 7, The Molecular Biology rapid metabolic processes that occurs in plant cells, of the Chloroplasts and Mitochondria in Chlamy- and therefore has to be considered in relation to domonas). Volume 4 dealt with Oxygenic Photo- transport, whether it be the initial uptake of carbon, synthesis: The Light Reactions, and volume 5 with intracellular transport between organelles, inter- Photosynthesis and the Environment, whereas the cellular transport, as occurs in plants, or transport structure and function of lipids in photosynthesis of photosynthates through and out of the leaf. All was covered in Volume 6 of this series: Lipids in these aspects of transport are also covered in the Photosynthesis: Structure, Function and Genetics, book.

Presents the latest knowledge of improving the stress tolerance, yield, and quality of rice crops One of the most important cereal crops, rice provides food to more than half of the world population. Various abiotic stresses—currently impacting an estimated 60% of crop yields—are projected to increase in severity and frequency due to climate change. In light of the threat of global food grain insecurity, interest in molecular rice breeding has intensified in recent years. Progress has been made, but there remains an urgent need to develop stress-tolerant, bio-fortified rice varieties that provide consistent and high-quality yields under both stress and non-stress conditions. Molecular Breeding for Rice Abiotic Stress Tolerance and Nutritional Quality is the first book to provide comprehensive and up-to-date coverage of this critical topic, containing the physiological, biochemical, and molecular information required to develop effective engineering strategies for enhancing rice yield. Authoritative and in-depth chapters examine the molecular and genetic bases of abiotic stress tolerance, discuss yield and quality improvement of rice, and explore new approaches to better utilize natural resources through modern breeding. Topics Include rice adaptation to climate change, enriching rice yields under low phosphorus and light intensity, increasing iron, zinc, vitamin and antioxidant content, and improving tolerance to salinity, drought, heat, cold, submergence, heavy metals and Ultraviolet-B radiation. This important resource: Contains the latest scientific information on a wide range of topics central to molecular breeding for rice Provides timely coverage molecular breeding for improving abiotic stress tolerance, bioavailability of essential micronutrients, and crop productivity through biotechnological methods Features detailed chapters written by internationally-recognized experts in the field Discusses recent progress and future directions in molecular breeding strategies and research Molecular Breeding for Rice Abiotic Stress Tolerance and Nutritional Quality is required reading for rice researchers, agriculturists, and agribusiness professionals, and the ideal text for instructors and students in molecular plant breeding, abiotic stress tolerance, environmental science, and plant physiology, biochemistry, molecular biology, and biotechnology.

PHYSIOLOGY OF SALT STRESS IN PLANTS Discover how soil salinity affects plants and other organisms and the techniques used to remedy the issue In Physiology of Salt Stress in Plants, an editorial team of internationally renowned researchers delivers an extensive exploration of the problem of soil salinity in modern agricultural practices. It also discusses the social and environmental issues caused by salt stress. The book covers the impact of salt on soil microorganisms, crops, and other plants, and presents that information alongside examinations of salt’s effects on other organisms, including aquatic fauna, terrestrial animals, and human beings. Physiology of Salt Stress in Plants describes the morphological, anatomical, physiological, and biochemical dimensions of increasing soil salinity. It also discusses potential remedies and encourages further thought and exploration of this issue. Readers are encouraged to consider less hazardous fertilizers and pesticides, to use safer doses, and to explore and work upon salt resistant varieties of plants. Readers will also benefit from the inclusion of: Thorough introductions to salt stress perception and toxicity levels and the effects of salt stress on the physiology of crop plants at a cellular level Explorations of the effects of salt stress on the biochemistry of crop plants and salt ion transporters in crop plants at a cellular level Practical discussions of salt ion and nutrient interactions in crop plants, including prospective signalling, and the effects of salt stress on the morphology, anatomy, and gene expression of crop plants An examination of salt stress on soil chemistry and the plant-atmosphere continuum Perfect for researchers, academics, and students working and studying in the fields of agriculture, botany, entomology, biotechnology, soil science, and plant physiology, Physiology of Salt Stress in Plants will also earn a place on the bookshelves of agronomists, crop scientists, and plant biochemists.