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. 2021 May 21;11(1):10669.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-89812-1.

Spermine mediated improvements on stomatal features, growth, grain filling and yield of rice under differing water availability

Zulkarami Berahim  1 , Deivaseeno Dorairaj  2 , Mohamad Husni Omar  2 , Halimi Mohd Saud  3 , Mohd Razi Ismail  2   4
Affiliations

Spermine mediated improvements on stomatal features, growth, grain filling and yield of rice under differing water availability

Zulkarami Berahim et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Rice which belongs to the grass family is vulnerable to water stress. As water resources get limited, the productivity of rice is affected especially in granaries located at drought prone areas. It would be even worse in granaries located in drought prone areas such as KADA that receives the lowest rainfall in Malaysia. Spermine (SPM), a polyamine compound that is found ubiquitiosly in plants is involved in adaptation of biotic and abiotic stresses. The effect of SPM on growth,grain filling and yield of rice at three main granaries namely, IADA BLS, MADA and KADA representing unlimited water, limited water and water stress conditions respectively, were tested during the main season. Additinally, the growth enhancer was also tested during off season at KADA. Spermine increased plant height, number of tillers per hill and chlorophyll content in all three granaries. Application of SPM improved yield by 38, 29 and 20% in MADA, KADA and IADA BLS, respectively. Harvest index showed 2.6, 6 and 16% increases at IADA BLS, KADA and MADA, respectively in SPM treated plants as compared to untreated. Except for KADA which showed a reduction in yield at 2.54 tha-1, SPM improved yield at MADA, 7.21 tha-1 and IADA BLS, 9.13 tha-1 as compared to the average yield at these respective granaries. In the second trial, SPM increased the yield to 7.0 and 6.4 tha-1 during main and off seasons, respectively, indicating that it was significantly higher than control and the average yield reported by KADA. The yield of SPM treatments improved by 25 and 33% with an increment of farmer's income at main and off seasons, respectively. Stomatal width was significantly higher than control at 11.89 µm. In conclusion, irrespective of the tested granaries and rice variety, spermine mediated plots displayed increment in grain yield.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Average yield by granary area in Peninsular Malaysia in 2013.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Experimental plots at (a) MADA, (b) KADA and (c) IADA BLS granaries.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Accumulated rainfall recorded in different granaries. MADA: Muda Agricultural Development Authority, KADA: Kemubu Agricultural Development Authority and IADA BLS: Integrated Agriculture Development Area Barat Laut Selangor.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Records of monthly rainfall at KADA during main season 2014/2015 and off season 2015.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Effect of SPM treatment on yield production and monthly rainfall in rice plants during main and off seasons. Bars represent standard errors of means (n = 3). T-test was performed at P ≤ 0.05 (n = 4). *: Significant at P ≤ 0.05.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Stomatal features of control (left) and SPM treated (right) rice plants at KADA during off season.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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