Abstract
Salinity and drought stress are significant environmental threats, alone or in combination. The current study was conducted to investigate the morpho-physiology, osmotic adjustment, oxidative stress, antioxidant defense and methylglyoxal detoxification of three rice genotypes from the indica (cv. BRRI dhan29 and BRRI dhan48) and japonica (cv. Koshihikari) groups. Eighteen-day-old seedlings of these genotypes were exposed to either in alone salinity (150 mM NaCl) and drought (15% PEG 6000) or in the combination of salinity and drought (150 mM NaCl + 15% PEG 6000) stress in vitro for 72 h. Compared with the control, the water status, biomass and photosynthetic pigments were decreased, where a significant increase was seen in the mortality rate, hydrogen peroxide content, electrolyte leakage, lipoxygenase activity, level of malondialdehyde and methylglyoxal, indicating increased lipid peroxidation in rice genotypes in stress conditions. The non-enzymatic and enzymatic components of the ascorbate-glutathione (AsA-GSH) pool in rice genotypes were disrupted under all stress treatments, resulting imbalance in the redox equilibrium. In contrast, compared to other rice genotypes, BRRI dhan48 revealed a lower Na+/K+ ratio, greater proline (Pro) levels, higher activity of AsA, dehydroascorbate (DHA) and GSH, lower glutathione disulfide (GSSG) and a higher ratio of AsA/DHA and GSH/GSSG, whereas enzymatic components increased monodehydroascorbate reductase, dehydroascorbate reductase, glutathione peroxidase and glyoxalase enzymes. The results showed that a stronger tolerate ability for BRRI dhan48 against stress has been connected to a lower Na+/K+ ratio, an increase in Pro content and an improved performance of the glyoxalase system and antioxidant protection for scavenging of reactive oxygen species. These data can give insight into probable responses to single or combination salinity and drought stress in rice genotypes.