Late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins are primarily found in plants stem, roots, and other organs and play significant roles in tolerance to several abiotic stresses. Plants synthesize a discrete set of LEA proteins in response to drought stress. In this study, the expression patterns of LEA genes were investigated in two advanced mutant rice genotypes subjected to the drought stress condition and different physiological traits including photosynthetic rate, leaf chlorophyll content, and photosystem II (PSII) photochemical efficiency (Fv/Fm) which were analyzed to confirm their drought tolerance. Five LEA genes (OsLEA1, OsLEA2, OsLEA3, OsLEA4, and OsLEA5) were used in the evaluation of rice genotypes and were significantly upregulated by more than 4-fold for MR219-4 and MR219-9. The upregulated genes by these two varieties showed high similarity with the drought-tolerant check variety, Aeron1. This indicates that these advanced mutant genotypes have better tolerance to drought stress. The changes in the expression level of LEA genes among the selected rice genotypes under drought stress were further confirmed. Hence, LEA genes could be served as a potential tool for drought tolerance determination in rice. MR219-4 and MR219-9 were found to be promising in breeding for drought tolerance as they offer better physiological adaptation to drought stress.

中文翻译：

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干旱胁迫下高级突变水稻基因型的LEA基因表达评估。

晚期胚胎发生丰富（LEA）蛋白主要存在于植物茎，根和其他器官中，并且在对几种非生物胁迫的耐受性中起重要作用。植物响应干旱胁迫合成一组离散的LEA蛋白。在这项研究中，研究了LEA基因在两种干旱突变型基因型中的表达模式，这些突变型基因受到干旱胁迫条件和不同的生理特征，包括光合速率，叶片叶绿素含量和光系统II（PSII）光化学效率（Fv / Fm）。经过分析以确认其耐旱性。五个LEA基因（OsLEA1，OsLEA2，OsLEA3，OsLEA4和OsLEA5）被用于水稻基因型的评估，对于MR219-4和MR219-9，其显着上调了4倍以上。这两个品种上调的基因与耐干旱的检查品种Aeron1具有高度相似性。这表明这些先进的突变基因型对干旱胁迫具有更好的耐受性。进一步确定了干旱胁迫下部分水稻基因型中LEA基因表达水平的变化。因此，LEA基因可以作为确定水稻抗旱性的潜在工具。人们发现MR219-4和MR219-9在抗旱育种方面很有前途，因为它们对干旱胁迫具有更好的生理适应性。