Allelopathic Responses of Rice Seedlings under Some Different Stresses

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the allelopathic responses of rice seedlings under submergence stress at different temperatures (10, 25, 32, and 37 °C). The results showed that a wide range of allelopathic responses of rice seedlings depended on varieties and stress conditions, with temperature was being a key factor. It showed that the extracts of rice seedlings induced significant suppression on lettuce and radish seedling germination, but had negligible allelopathic effects on growth of barnyardgrass, whilst the emergence and growth of natural weeds was stimulated. In contrast, the root exudates of Koshihikari rice seedlings (K32) at 32 °C reduced the number of total weeds by ≈60.0% and the total dry weight of weeds by 93.0%; i.e., to a greater extent than other root exudates. Among the 13 identified phenolic acids, p-hydroxybenzoic, vanillic, syringic, sinapic and benzoic acids—at concentrations of 0.360, 0.045, 3.052, 1.309 and 5.543 μg/mL might be involved in allelopathic responses of K32, inhibiting the growth of barnyardgrass and natural weeds. Findings of the present study may provide useful information on allelopathic responses of rice under environmental stresses and thus further understand of the competitive relationships between rice and weeds under natural conditions.