Leaf photosynthesis and antioxidant response in selected traditional rice landraces of Jeypore tract of Odisha, India to submergence.

Submergence tolerance in rice is important for improving yield under rain-fed lowland rice ecosystem. In this study, five traditional rice landraces having submergence tolerance phenotype were selected. These five rice landraces were chosen based on the submergence-tolerance screening of 88 rice landraces from various lowland areas of Jeypore tract of Odisha in our previous study. These five rice landraces were further used for detailed physiological assessment under control, submergence and subsequent re-aeration to judge their performance under different duration of submergence. Seedling survival was significantly decreased with the increase of plant height and significant varietal difference was observed after 14 days of complete submergence. Results showed that submergence progressively declined the leaf photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, instantaneous water use efficiency, carboxylation efficiency, photosystem II (PSII) activity and chlorophyll, with greater effect observed in susceptible check variety (IR 42). Notably, higher activities of antioxidative enzymes and ascorbate level were observed in traditional rice landraces and were found comparable with the tolerant check variety (FR 13A). Taken together, three landraces such as Samudrabali, Basnamundi and Gadaba showed better photosynthetic activity than that of tolerant check variety (FR 13A) and showed superior antioxidant response to submergence and subsequent re-aeration. These landraces can be considered as potential donors for the future submergence tolerance breeding program.