Gene expression signatures of rice floral organs before and after pollination under heat and combined drought and heat stress

Floral organs are extremely sensitive to stress during anthesis and lead to severe yield loss. Rice anthers and pollinated pistils of two cultivars with contrasting tolerance to heat and drought stress under variable conditions, including control, heat, combined heat and drought stress, were used to explore gene expression pattern in male and female reproductive organs during anthesis under control and stress conditions. More gene regulation was induced by combined drought and heat stress than heat in anthers of both cultivars. N22 showed less regulation under combined stress than Moroberekan. The overlap of regulated genes between two cultivars was rather low, indicated the distinct molecular stress responses.

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