Adoption of Multi-omics Approaches to Address Drought Stress Tolerance in Rice and Mitigation Strategies for Sustainable Production

Drought is considered one of the major limiting factors for crop production. Drought-affected areas are consistently expanding. As rice stands as a primary grain widely consumed as a staple food by people across the globe, with a particular prominence in Asian countries. Due to its short root structure, thin cuticular wax layer and quick stomatal closure, rice is considered as drought-sensitive crop. The impact of drought on rice amplifies with plant growth and its adverse effects are more pronounced during the reproductive phase, including stages such as blooming, filling and maturity. Every year rice growers are facing a considerable deterioration of yield due to abiotic stresses specially drought. To address this undesirable consequences, multi-omics approaches are successfully being utilized as a mitigation strategy. A thorough, precise and systematic comprehension of the fundamental biological and cellular mechanisms activated by crop plants during stress is achieved through a range of omics technologies, including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics. The integration of multi omics approaches offers a holistic understanding of cellular dynamics during drought or other stress conditions. These omics-based tools can identify and manipulate drought-tolerant genes. Utilizing omics approaches to stack these genes in rice contributes to the development of a drought resistant plant architecture. This review article aims to compile the latest published strategies on the application of multi omics approaches to accelerate the development of drought-tolerant rice plants.