Genetic improvement of rice for biotic and abiotic stress tolerance

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is among the most important food crops that provide a staple food for nearly half of the world's population. Rice crops are prone to various types of stresses, both biotic and abiotic. Biotic stresses include insect pests, fungus, bacteria, viruses, and herbicide toxicity. Among abiotic stresses, drought, cold, and salinity are also well studied in rice. Various genes have been identified, cloned, and characterized to combat these stresses and protect rice crops. The identified genes are successfully transformed into rice plants to produce transgenic plants. These transgenic rice plants are being evaluated under field conditions in different countries. Genetic engineering has a very positive impact on improvement of rice crops. The development of rice with improved traits of biotic and abiotic stress tolerance is discussed in this review article. The objective of this review is to provide an overview of recent research and development in the field of rice biotechnology.