A Novel Approach for Screening Salinity-Tolerant Rice Germplasm by Exploring Redox-Regulated Cytological Fingerprint

Although metabolic homeostasis disruption, cellular damage, and premature senescence caused by salinity stress are well-documented in the literature, there are few studies investigating cytological changes induced by salinity stress within the altered metabolic landscape of rice, and this study aims to fill that gap. The cytological characterization of root tips (in terms of mitotic index and chromosomal abnormalities such as stickiness, laggards, fragments, bridges, micronuclei, ring chromosomes, and total mitotic abnormalities) was conducted on 10 experimental rice landraces from coastal Bangladesh, grown under post-imbibitional salinity stress (PISS), while correlating these changes with their metabolic status. The results revealed a strong correlation between salinity-induced cytological changes in root cells (mitotic index and chromosomal abnormalities) and the redox interactome status of all…