Morpho-physiological responses of rice genotypes and its clustering under hydroponic iron toxicity conditions

The acid soil area covers major topics land where Iron (Fe) toxicity is one of a limiting factor for rice production which can be overcome by planting the tolerant variety. The information of morpho-physiological characters and the genetic variation of tolerant genotypes is very important. Here we study the variation of root and shoot growth as well as physiological responses to iron toxicity between ten rice genotypes under hydroponic conditions with agar addition. Growth parameters, leaf bronzing score, Fe content in the shoot and root plaques, total chlorophyll, carotenoids, and malondialdehyde (MDA) were observed in this study. Based on morpho-physiological data related to iron toxicity, ten rice genotypes were clustered into three groups which the best performance genotypes were Pokkali and Hawara Bunar. Leaf bronzing score showed correlated with Fe content in the shoot, but tolerant and sensitive genotypes could be differentiate based on this character because it showed non significant Fe content between those two groups. Our study found that the pattern in morpho-physiological characters variation could be useful for selection of desirable genotypes for Fe tolerant rice.