The study demonstrates that short‑term low phosphate treatment delays leaf senescence in rice by increasing photosynthetic pigments, enhancing antioxidant enzyme activities, and reducing oxidative damage, whereas high phosphate accelerates senescence. CRISPR/Cas9 editing of MIR827 to lower Pi levels also postpones senescence, while overexpression of MIR827 or MIR399, which raises Pi, speeds it up. Transcriptomic profiling reveals coordinated changes in senescence‑associated and metabolic pathways underlying the low‑phosphate response.

Sixteen upland rice varieties were evaluated under three irrigation regimes (100%, 70%, and 50% field capacity) with additional six‑day water withholding to simulate moderate and severe drought. Yield losses ranged from 35% to 78% depending on stress level, and varieties Dawk Kha, Khao/Sai, and Dawk Pa‑yawm showed the greatest stability, suggesting they are promising for breeding drought‑resilient upland rice.

The study reveals that rice perceives Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae outer membrane vesicles through a rapid calcium signal that triggers plasma‑membrane nanodomain formation and the re‑organisation of defence‑related proteins, establishing an early immune response. Without this Ca2+ signal, OMVs are not recognized and immunity is weakened.

The study used host-mediated artificial selection to iteratively enrich rice-associated microbiomes that improve growth and drought tolerance, starting from diverse soil microbial communities. Over multiple generations, selected microbiomes converged, and amplicon sequencing along with metagenome-assembled genomes identified specific bacterial taxa and functional pathways (e.g., glycerol-3-phosphate and iron transport) linked to enhanced drought performance. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of plant phenotype-driven microbiome engineering for crop improvement.

The study shows that during drought, rice (Oryza sativa) downregulates nutrient acquisition and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis genes, causing the fungal partner to enter metabolic quiescence and retract hyphae, but upon re-watering the symbiosis is rapidly reactivated. This reversible dynamic suggests that plant‑fungus mutualisms are fragile under fluctuating water availability.

The study used CRISPR/Cas9 to generate rice snrk1 mutants and performed integrated phenotypic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and phosphoproteomic analyses under normal and starvation conditions, revealing SnRK1’s dual role in promoting growth and mediating stress responses. Findings indicate sub-functionalization of SnRK1 subunits and identify novel phosphorylation targets linked to membrane trafficking, ethylene signaling, and ion transport.

The study used CRISPR/Cas9 to create rice lines with one to three tandem copies of the OsMADS18 gene and confirmed copy-number through high‑throughput qPCR. Incremental increases in OsMADS18 copy number produced proportional rises in transcript levels and corresponding enhancements in leaf blade and culm length, showing that gene dosage can be leveraged to fine‑tune agronomic traits.