Shoot Transcriptome Analysis of Rice Cultivars Identifies Drought-Tolerance Genes under early vegetative drought stress and non-stress in controlled laboratory conditions

This dataset includes gene count tables and raw FASTQ files generated from an RNA-seq experiment conducted on three Oryza sativa rice genotypes exposed to 30 days of drought stress under controlled laboratory conditions at the early vegetative (seedling) stage. The selected genotypes represent contrasting drought responses: two drought-tolerant varieties (APO and CRI-Enapa) and one drought-sensitive line (ART132-35-1-1-B-B). Their drought tolerance status was previously established at the reproductive stage under field conditions using rain-out shelters (Adjah et al., 2025, https://doi.org/10.1079/ab.2025.0012).

In most rice breeding programs, drought tolerance is assessed primarily at the adult or reproductive stages, even though water deficit during early crop establishment can lead to severe yield losses and crop failure. As a result, plant responses to drought at early developmental stages remain poorly addressed. This study addresses that gap by examining whether rice genotypes that perform well under reproductive-stage drought also exhibit similar responses when drought occurs at the early vegetative stage.

Our results show that early vegetative drought stress induces extensive transcriptional reprogramming, particularly in the drought-tolerant genotype APO. Key responses include the activation of hormone signaling pathways, transcription factors, carbohydrate transport mechanisms, and protective stress-response genes. These findings highlight potential molecular markers and pathways that could be exploited for early-stage screening of drought tolerance, offering practical value for rice breeding programs targeting climate-resilient varieties.