Rhizoctonia solani is a soil-borne fungus causing sheath blight disease in cereal crops including rice. Genetic resistance to sheath blight disease in cereal crops is not well understood in most of the host(s). Aside from this, a comparative study on the different hosts at the biochemical and proteomic level upon R. solani infection was not reported earlier. Here, we performed proteomic based analysis and studied defense pathways among cultivated rice (cv. Pusa Basmati-1), wild rice accession (Oryza grandiglumis), and barley (cv. NDB-1445) after inoculation with R. solani. Increased levels of phenol, peroxidase, and β-1, 3-glucanase were observed in infected tissue as compared to the control in all of the hosts. Wild rice accession O. grandiglumis showed a higher level of biochemical signals than barley cv. NDB 1445 and cultivated rice cv. Pusa Basmati-1. Using two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D-PAGE) and mass spectrometry (MS), differently expressed proteins were also studied in control and after inoculation with R. solani. Wild rice accession O. grandiglumis induced a cysteine protease inhibitor and zinc finger proteins, which have defense functions and resistance against fungal pathogens. On the other hand, barley cv. NDB-1445 and cultivated rice cv. Pusa Basmati-1 mainly induce energy metabolism-related proteins/signals after inoculation with R. solani in comparison to wild rice accession O. grandiglumis. The present comprehensive study of R. solani interaction using three hosts, namely, Pusa Basmati-1 (cultivated rice), O. grandiglumis (wild rice), and NDB-1445 (barley) would interpret wider possibilities in the dissection of the protein(s) induced during the infection process. These proteins may further be correlated to the gene(s) and other related molecular tools that will help for the marker-assisted breeding and/or gene editing for this distressing disease among the major cereal crops.

The global population, currently at 8.2 billion, is projected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, intensifying the demand for staple foods like rice. Rice cultivation, a critical component of Asian diets, requires 2000 to 5000 liters of water per kilogram, making it highly vulnerable to water scarcity. Factors such as climate change and soil conditions significantly affect rice yield. To overcome the yield loss of rice due to drought stress, we developed a mutagenized population of population of Sarjoo 52 rice. Whose screening for drought tolerance was done at the seedling stage through polyethylene glycol 6000. These lines were subjected to varying concentrations of Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) 6000 5, 10, 15, 20% (0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 bar) to simulate drought stress. Observations of germination percentage, shoot length, root length, and root-to-shoot length ratio were assessed using a two-factorial, completely randomized design (CRD). Among the tested lines, ten mutants (SDTC-66, SDTC-68, SDTC-20, SDTC-28, SDTC-36, SDTC-35, SDTC-65, SDTB-1, SDTB-11, and SDTB-12) exhibited superior performance, with SDTC-66 demonstrating the most robust drought tolerance across all traits. These lines showed the potential of mutant rice lines in mitigating the impact of drought on rice production and ensuring food security. These can also be used in future breeding programs after further screening.