REVIEW article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Crop and Product Physiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1602704
This article is part of the Research TopicMolecular Mechanisms of Arsenic Accumulation in Rice CropsView all articles
Control strategies for rice 'straighthead' through physicochemical and biological methods on arsenic transformation and transportation
Provisionally accepted
- 1Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, China
- 2Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
- 3Jiangxi Academy of Medical Sciences, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China
- 4Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center, Agricultural Research Service (USDA), Stuttgart, Arizona, United States
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Straighthead is a widespread physiological disease affecting rice, characterized by sterile florets and distorted palea and lemma, which can reduce grain yield by up to 100%. In recent decades, arsenic (As) has emerged as a focal point in straighthead research. This paper elucidates the relationship between As toxicity and straighthead while reviewing preventive measures, including water and fertilizer management and the application of resistant cultivars. The optimization of water and fertilizer management enhances the redox potential for As oxidization or/and changes the microbial community involved in As demethylation in rice fields, leading to increased immobility or affinity of As with other minerals. Furthermore, we integrate our previous genetic studies on straighthead with the As metabolism to uncover its genetic foundations. The results indicate that quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with straighthead co-locate with QTLs/genes related to As within the rice genome. These QTLs/genes are frequently involved in the phosphate/silicate (Pi/Si) transporter responsible for As uptake. Such co-localizations imply that the Pi/Si transporter facilitates the translocation of As from roots to shoots, thereby contributing to the occurrence of straighthead. Throughout this text, we underscore the preeminence of the genetic strategy as an optimal solution for managing straighthead. The adoption of resistant cultivars effectively tackles the multifaceted challenges related to water management, such as high costs, water resource wastage, and potential yield losses.Additionally, it addresses concerns regarding fertilizer application, which is heavily reliant on soil conditions and poses significant environmental pollution risks.
Keywords: Straighthead, arsenic toxicity, fertilizer, Minerals, Draining and drying, Resistant cultivar ABC, ATP-binding cassette transporter, AR, arsenate reductase, AsA, ascorbic acid
Received: 31 Mar 2025; Accepted: 27 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Pan, Zhang, Hu and Yan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xiaobai Li, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, China
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