Effect of ABA Pre-Treatment on Rice Plant Transcriptome Response to Multiple Abiotic Stress

Abstract

Half of the world’s population depends on rice plant cultivation, yet environmental stresses continue to substantially impact the production of one of our most valuable staple foods. The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in the transcriptome of the IAC1131 rice genotype when exposed to a suite of multiple abiotic stresses, either with or without pre-treatment with the plant hormone ABA (Abscisic acid). Four groups of IAC1131 rice plants were grown including control plants incubated with ABA, non-ABA-incubated control plants, stressed plants incubated with ABA, and non-ABA-incubated stressed plants, with leaf samples harvested after 0 days (control) and 4 days (stressed). We found that high concentrations of ABA applied exogenously to the control plants under normal conditions did not alter the IAC1131 transcriptome profile significantly. The observed changes in the transcriptome of the IAC1131 plants in response to multiple abiotic stress were made even more pronounced by ABA pre-treatment, which induced the upregulation of a significant number of additional genes. Although ABA application impacted the plant transcriptome, multiple abiotic stress was the dominant factor in modifying gene expression in the IAC1131 plants. Exogenous ABA application may mitigate the effects of stress through ABA-dependent signalling pathways related to biological photosynthesis functions. Pre-treatment with ABA alters the photosynthesis function negatively by reducing stomatal conductance, therefore helping plants to conserve the energy required for survival under unfavourable environmental conditions.