Drought tolerance

Arabidopsis

Circadian clock

Biology

Gene

Mutant

Strigolactone

Abscisic acid

Tiller (botany)

Botany

Cell biology

Genetics

Reproduction

Molecular Plant

We found that low water-deficit treatment (LWT) at the early stage of rice development can trigger early flowering and reduced tiller numbers. LWT induced the accumulation of abscisic acid (ABA), whose feedback in turn affected the light perception and circadian clock by synchronously regulating many flowering-related genes to promote early flowering. Some of the light receptors, circadian components, and flowering-related genes were involved in LWT in an ABA-dependent manner, while others were involved in the regulation of drought escape (DE) independent of ABA. Our findings provide compelling evidence that drought escape in rice is coordinately regulated by multiple pathways in the reproduction (flowering) switch.

Integrative Regulation of Drought Escape through ABA-Dependent and -Independent Pathways in Rice