Differences and similarities between japonica and indica rice cultivars in the response of grain quality to free-air CO₂ enrichment

Abstract

Selecting high-yielding rice cultivars with superior quality under a changing climate is of particular importance for ensuring future food security. In this field experiment, japonica rice Wuyunjing27 (WYJ27) and indica rice Yangdao6 (YD6) displaying low and high yield enhancement at elevated CO₂ (eCO₂), respectively, were compared in their grain quality responses to free-air CO₂ enrichment (FACE). Grains located at apical primary rachis (superior spikelets, SS) and at proximal secondary rachis (inferior spikelets, IS) were separately investigated in their responses to eCO₂ because of the asynchronous grain development in rice panicles. Significant quality declines were found in SS of WYJ27, including increased chalky grains and decreased protein and amino acid concentration; in contrast, YD6 was less affected by eCO₂ in these traits. Grain quality of IS of both cultivars was less affected by eCO₂, which might be associated with improved grain ripening, as shown by the reduced proportions of immature grains at harvest. Gel consistency and peak, hot, and final viscosities in the starch rapid visco analyzer profile were increased by eCO₂ when averaged across SS and IS of the two cultivars, indicating enhanced stickiness of cooked rice. For nutrient compositions, only grain sulfur concentration was reduced by eCO₂, while the concentrations of other mineral elements and phytic acid were unchanged when averaged across SS and IS of the two cultivars. These results indicate that indica rice with higher yield increase from eCO₂ displayed less quality deterioration, but the underlying mechanisms need further investigation in order to breed rice with both high yield and good quality in eCO₂ environments.

Keywords

Free-air CO₂ enrichment / Grain quality / Indica and japonica / Rice / Superior and inferior spikelets

Abbreviations

aCO₂ ambient CO₂

eCO₂ elevated CO₂

FACE free-air CO₂ enrichment

IS inferior spikelets

RVA rapid visco analyzer

SS superior spikelets

WYJ27 Wuyunjing27

YD6 Yangdao6

Availability of data and materials

Data will be shared upon request by the readers.

Authors' contributions

H.S., W.Y.X., and Y.L.: Writing, reviewing, and editing; H.S., S.G., G.B., and J.L.: Investigation; H.S.: Visualization; H.S., W.Y.X., J.L., and Y.L.: Funding acquisition; H.S.: Formal analysis; S.G.: Methodology; W.Y.X, W.Y.L., H.J., and, Y.L.: Conceptualization; C.X.: Validation; X.F: Supervision; Z.J.: Resources; and Z.J.: Project administration.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 32372216, 32172102, and 31671618), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2023M742963), and the Project Funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, China.

Appendix A. Supplementary data

Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crope.2025.02.001.

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