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Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Early Access

Effects of submergence time, light and nitrate compounds on the survival of some modern rice cultivars under flooded conditions

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.11416
Submitted
22 August 2025
Published
03-02-2026

Abstract

Flooding significantly affects rice survival due to fast oxygen depletion, and the possible use of nitrate (NO3-) as an alternate terminal electron acceptor to enable anaerobic metabolism remains little investigated. In particular, the efficiency of different NO3 - compounds in increasing submergence tolerance across different rice cultivars has received little attention. Six rice cultivars-OM4900, OM6976, OM4218, IR50404, OM7347 and IR64Sub1-were tested for their flooding responses during 5-10 and 15-day submergence periods in dark conditions. Additionally, the effects of exogenous NO3 - treatments on seedling survival were evaluated. After 5 days, IR64Sub1, OM7347 and OM4900 exhibited the highest survival rates (86, 83 and 81 %, respectively). Survival sharply decreased after 10 days, with most cultivars falling below 26 %, except OM7347 and IR64Sub1, which were reduced to 38.7 and 30.7 %, respectively. At 15 days, survival was ≤10 % for all lines. Light significantly improved survival (72.91 %) compared with dark conditions (12.31 %), and darkness induced a 142.252 % increase in soluble sugar levels, demonstrating the importance of carbohydrate reserves under hypoxia. Application of 3 mg L-1 calcium nitrate (Ca(NO3)2) increased survival after 10-day submergence by 47.7 % in OM4218, 53 % in OM4900, and 40 % in IR64Sub1, while silver nitrate (AgNO3) stimulated shoot elongation (up to 4.42 cm). Calcium nitrate also increased soluble sugar accumulation to 2.91.5.31 mg g-1 dry weight (DW). Dissolved oxygen measurements showed delayed oxygen depletion under Ca(NO3)2 and elevated oxygen availability with AgNO3. These results highlight the novel role of NO3 - compounds in enhancing rice submergence tolerance and provide a foundation for further elucidation of NO3- mediated mechanisms of anaerobic survival.

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