Research Projects

Global warming is a serious threat to global food security, and temperatures around the globe are expected to rise in the coming years. As per the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2022), the global surface temperature may increase by about 2.7°C compared to pre-industrial levels by the end of this century. This rise is detrimental to crop production, especially in tropical and subtropical regions where food security is already fragile. To address this challenge, we must develop climate-smart crops that can tolerate such environmental stresses while maintaining yield and quality. Heat stress (HS) occurs when plants experience temperatures beyond their optimal range, and such higher temperatures disrupt various physiological processes in plants, inhibiting their growth and development. Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a staple food crop that feeds two-thirds of the global population, including India, where it is central to food security, especially rural livelihoods. However, rice is highly sensitive to heat, at all developmental stages. High temperatures can reduce seed germination, seedling growth, spikelet number, grain filling, and quality. Even short periods of HS can cause irreversible damage. It is estimated that for every 1°C increase in temperature, rice yields may decline 10% or more, emphasizing the urgent need for the development of thermotolerant rice varieties. Recent studies highlight the role of phytohormones, especially brassinosteroids (BRs), in helping plants cope with heat and other abiotic stresses. Exogenous application of BRs improve thermotolerance in rice by stabilizing cellular structures, enhancing antioxidant levels, and maintaining photosynthetic efficiency under HS conditions. However, field use of BRs is limited due to cost, regulatory constraints, and inconsistent performance. Therefore, sustainable alternatives that harness internal hormone regulation are needed to build resilient and sustainable agricultural systems. This proposal aims to develop heat-resilient rice using Prime Editing (PE), a precise genome editing tool that allows the insertion of specific DNA sequences without the need for donor templates or double-strand breaks. Heat shock elements (HSEs) are short and conserved DNA motifs (nGAAnnTTCn or nTTCnnGAAn) found in the promoter regions of heat-responsive genes in plants, including rice. HSEs act as binding sites for heat shock factors (HSFs), which are activated in response to elevated temperatures. We plan to introduce these HSEs in the promoters of BR biosynthesis genes in rice employing PE. Under HS, HSEs will trigger the expression of BR biosynthetic genes through activation by HSFs, enabling on-demand BR production and enhancing thermotolerance in rice. Overall, this project combines advanced genome editing with plant hormone signaling and stress responses to create heat-tolerant rice, addressing current agricultural challenges and future food security demands.