Optimizing Drought Tolerance in Drought Susceptible Indian Rice Oryza Sativa L Var Indica Cultivar Satabdi Iet 4786 Using Sustainable Seed Priming Technique

Abstract

Drought stress remains a serious concern in Oryza sativa L. var indica, cultivar Satabdi (IET4786) production, particularly during the earliest growth phases, ultimately affecting yield due to the recent trend of delayed rain arrival. This study aimed to develop a cost-effective strategy to improve the drought tolerance capacity of rice seedlings by priming the seeds with flavonoid-enriched extract (FEE) of French marigold (Tagetes patula) petals to withstand the initial drought milieu. The morpho-physiological and biochemical responses of rice seedlings were evaluated to perceive the priming efficacy in alleviating water stress-induced untoward effects. The findings revealed that mechanical priming of the IET4786 seeds with FEE (50 mg/ml for 30 min) significantly improved seedling survival against initial drought stress for 14 days. After 24 h of recovery from drought stress, the primed seed-derived seedlings exhibited significantly improved morphological, physiological, biochemical and redox parameters compared to the seedlings derived from unprimed seeds under net house conditions. In search of mechanistic insights, seed priming significantly increased proline content by endorsing and#916;1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase activities, endorsed methylglyoxal clearance homeostasis by improving glyoxalase I and II activities through restoring glutathione (GSH) level and improved polyamine accumulation in the leaves of seedlings to endure drought stress. In addition, seed priming with FEE not only enables seedlings to respond immediately to early drought exposures, but this drought tolerance capacity extends to the next generation in G1 plants derived from the seeds of plants grown from FET-primed seeds experiencing an initial drought stress through inter-generational stress memory. Thus, it can be concluded that IET4786 seed priming with FEE can offer a cost-effective and innovative solution to the challenge of water stress during the early stage of cultivation due to the recent trend of the late arrival of monsoons in India. newlineKeywords: Drought; IET4786; inter-generational stress memory; methylglyoxal; Oryza sativa L. var indica; Oxidative stress; Proline; Satabdi. newline