Acta Agriculturae Boreali-Sinica ›› 2026, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (5): 11-22. doi: 10.7668/hbnxb.20196434

Special Issue: Rice; Drought and water saving; Biotechnology; Cultivation & Physiology;

• Crop Genetics & Breeding·Germplasm Resources·Biotechnology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effects of Exogenous Trehalose on Physiological Characteristics and Gene Expression in Aromatic Rice Seedlings under Drought Stress

GUO Yukun, ZHAO Jingyi, BI Yanpeng, MIAO Yuhang, PENG Xinyi, WANG Haozhou, HOU Haoran, ZHANG Zewei, WANG Jiameng, GUO Xiaohong   

  1. College of Agriculture, Heilongjiang Bayi Agricultural University,Heilongjiang Provincial Key Laboratoryof Modern Agricultural Cultivation Technology and Crop Germplasm Improvement, Daqing 163319, China
  • Published:2026-10-28

Abstract:

To investigate the mechanism of exogenous trehalose in mitigating drought stress in aromatic rice,this study used Daohuaxiang 2 as experimental material and simulated drought stress with 15% polyethylene glycol-6000(PEG-6000).Three trehalose spray treatments were applied at concentrations of 5,10,and 15 mmol/L(T1,T2,T3),with well-watered(CK,sprayed with water)and drought-stressed(D,sprayed with water)conditions as controls.Temporal changes in growth and physiological parameters of seedlings were systematically analyzed and combined with transcriptome sequencing to elucidate the molecular regulatory mechanisms.The results showed that the 5 mmol/L trehalose treatment(T1)exhibited a significant alleviating effect during the late stress stage(12 d),with soluble protein and proline contents in leaves reaching 5.47 and 0.132 mg/g,respectively,significantly higher than those in the D treatment.Under the T1 treatment,the ascorbic acid(AsA)content and the activities of superoxide dismutase(SOD),peroxidase(POD),catalase(CAT),and ascorbate peroxidase(APX)peaked,with SOD and CAT activities significantly increased by 30.10% and 91.84%,respectively,compared with the D treatment.In contrast,the superoxide anion production rate and malondialdehyde(MDA)content were significantly lower in T1 than in D,with reductions of 55.10% and 14.68%,respectively.A Z-score comprehensive evaluation based on morphological and physiological parameters revealed that the T1 treatment had the highest comprehensive evaluation value of 455.18,which was 184.65% and 44.02% higher than that of D and CK,respectively.Transcriptome analysis indicated that the T1 treatment regulated 1 451 differentially expressed genes,which were significantly enriched in pathways such as photosynthesis-antenna proteins,glutathione metabolism,and MAPK signaling pathways.Key genes including OsFPPS,OsGSTF1,OsTPP1,and OsWRKY69 were upregulated,while negative regulators such as OsPP2C73 were downregulated.In conclusion,exogenous application of 5 mmol/L trehalose effectively alleviated drought stress in Daohuaxiang 2 seedlings by enhancing osmotic adjustment and antioxidant capacity,while coordinately regulating ABA signaling,MAPK signaling pathway,and endogenous trehalose metabolism-related genes.These findings provide a theoretical basis and molecular targets for drought-resistant cultivation of aromatic rice and the development of trehalose-based stress resistance agents.

Key words: Aromatic rice, Drought stress, Trehalose, Physiological mechanisms, Transcriptomic analysis

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Cite this article

GUO Yukun, ZHAO Jingyi, BI Yanpeng, MIAO Yuhang, PENG Xinyi, WANG Haozhou, HOU Haoran, ZHANG Zewei, WANG Jiameng, GUO Xiaohong. Effects of Exogenous Trehalose on Physiological Characteristics and Gene Expression in Aromatic Rice Seedlings under Drought Stress[J]. Acta Agriculturae Boreali-Sinica, 2026, 41(5): 11-22. doi: 10.7668/hbnxb.20196434.

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