In this manual, we provide detailed protocols for screening rice under the major stresses affecting both rainfed and irrigated rice: submergence, salinity, drought, and the soil problems – excess iron and aluminum. We also include protocols for a new area of abiotic stress research since it is increasingly occurring in farmers’ field due to climate change: combined stresses. Results from these protocols on combined drought + salinity and submergence + salinity indicate that the effects on the rice plant are sometimes different than under individual stresses. The protocols in this manual have been developed and optimized over decades at IRRI. Numerous scientists, technical staff and students have been involved in the development and use of these protocols, and it is often their experiences that have led to improvements, all of which are highly acknowledged. Our objective with this compilation is to provide a resource for researchers around the globe who aim to improve the abiotic stress tolerance of rice as part of the effort to benefit rice farmers in both rainfed and irrigated areas affected by abiotic stresses

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 open access book presents simple, robust pre-field screening protocols that allow plant breeders to screen for enhanced tolerance to heat stress in rice. Two critical heat-sensitive stages in the lifecycle of the rice crop are targeted – the seedling and flowering stages – with screening based on simple phenotypic responses. The protocols are based on the use of a hydroponics system and/or pot experiments in a glasshouse in combination with a controlled growth chamber where the heat stress treatment is applied. The protocols are designed to be effective, simple, reproducible and user-friendly. The protocols will enable plant breeders to effectively reduce the number of plants from a few thousands to less than 100 candidate individual mutants or lines in a greenhouse/growth chamber, which can then be used for further testing and validation in the field conditions. The methods can also be used to classify rice genotypes according to their heat tolerance characteristics. Thus, different types of heat stress tolerance mechanisms can be identified, presenting opportunities for pyramiding different (mutant) sources of heat stress tolerance.

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.

Gathering some 90 entries from the Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology, this book covers animal breeding and genetics for food, crop science and technology, ocean farming and sustainable aquaculture, transgenic livestock for food and more.

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.

Environmental insults such as extremes of temperature, extremes of water status as well as deteriorating soil conditions pose major threats to agriculture and food security. Employing contemporary tools and techniques from all branches of science, attempts are being made worldwide to understand how plants respond to abiotic stresses with the aim to help manipulate plant performance that will be better suited to withstand these stresses. This book on abiotic stress attempts to search for possible answers to several basic questions related to plant responses towards abiotic stresses. Presented in this book is a holistic view of the general principles of stress perception, signal transduction and regulation of gene expression. Further, chapters analyze not only model systems but extrapolate interpretations obtained from models to crops. Lastly, discusses how stress-tolerant crop or model plants have been or are being raised through plant breeding and genetic engineering approaches. Twenty three chapters, written by international authorities, integrate molecular details with overall plant structure and physiology, in a text-book style, including key references.