Genetically Modified Rice Stacked with Antioxidants for Nutrient Enhancement and Stress Tolerance

Abstract

The world’s population is projected to increase up to nine billion by the end of 2050, and to meet the dietary needs of this growing population, production of important agricultural crops is inevitable. Conventional breeding approaches are not only time-consuming but laborious too. Genetically modified (GM) crops can help in this regard by complementing the crop varieties developed by traditional approaches. These crops have an advantage of tackling malnutrition because of their greater potential to enhance nutritional quality and yield and an augmented resistance toward different abiotic and biotic constraints. A number of genes have been identified that can respond under biotic and abiotic stress conditions. Therefore, genetic engineering of rice for enhancing nutrient uptake and creating resistance against biotic and abiotic stresses are a novel approach for improving the agricultural crop production. Adaptation of plants to different biotic and abiotic stresses is contingent on creation of cascades of molecular network involving the recognition of stress, transduction of signals and expression of stress specific genes and secondary metabolites such as antioxidants. Thus, engineering the stress-responsive genes which can preserve the function may be potential target for stress tolerance and nutrient enhancement in rice.