Physiological and molecular basis of susceptibility and tolerance of rice plants to complete submergence

Rice plants are much damaged by several days of total submergence. The effect can be a serious problem for rice farmers in the rainfed lowlands of Asia, and runs contrary to a widespread belief amongst plant biologists that rice is highly tolerant of submergence. This article assesses the characteristics of the underwater environment that may damage rice plants, examines various physiological mechanisms of injury, and reviews recent progress achieved using linkage mapping to locate quantitative traits loci (QTL) for tolerance inherited from a submergence-tolerant cultivar FR13A. Progress towards identifying the gene(s) involved through physical mapping of a dominant tolerance locus on chromosome 9 is also summarized. Available physiological evidence points away from responses to oxygen shortage as being inextricably involved in submergence injury. An imbalance between production and consumption of assimilates is seen as being especially harmful, and is exacerbated by strongly accelerated leaf extension and leaf senescence that are ethylene-mediated and largely absent from FR13A and related cultivars. DNA markers for a major QTL for tolerance are shown to be potentially useful in breeding programmes designed to improve submergence tolerance. (C) 2003 Annals of Botany Company.