How much the response of rice genotypes to water deficit at the reproductive phase is dependent from environmental conditions

Rice crop is known as particularly sensitive to water deficit, especially during the reproductive phase when growth of vegetative organs and formation of spikelets are simultaneous. Many works have focused on the response of rice plants to water deficits varying in timing, duration and intensity. Oppositely, the impact of the environmental conditions on the response to a given water deficit remains largely unknown. In order to test it, two experiments under contrasted conditions of temperature, radiation and VPD were conducted on six genotypes in greenhouse in Brazil (S) and in growth chamber in France (GC). The plants were submitted to the same mild water deficit at the reproductive phase, by adjusting FTSW at 0.4. Under irrigation, plant growth rate was reduced and crop duration extended in GC in relation to S: ultimately, this trade-off resulted in similar plant height and biomass in both environments. Under water deficit and in both environments, elongation rate decreased and was associated with an increase in soluble sugars in stem and flag leaf, while starch was reduced in S and negligible in GC because of the low radiation. This common biochemical response displayed a large gradient of values across environments and genotypes, but differentially impacted the branch and spikelet formation on the developing panicle: in carbon limiting conditions (GC), the increase in soluble sugars was associated with the reduction in branch and spikelet number, and conversely in S. At the morphological level, the maintenance of spikelet number on the panicle was correlated with the maintenance of flag leaf width in all genotypes and conditions, that was discussed according to the maintenance of the apical meristem size. Genotypes were discriminated and the study underlined the global tolerance of Cirad 409 and sensitivity of IAC 25.