A synthetic cytokinin influences the accumulation of leaf soluble sugars and sugar transporters, and enhances the drought adaptability in rice.

cv. PTT1 (Pathumthani1) was treated with phenyl-urea-based synthetic cytokinin under drought stress. Soluble sugar contents were examined in rice flag leaves at tillering and grain-filling stages. The same leaf samples were used to analyze the differential abundance intensities of proteins related to metabolism and transport of soluble sugars, and the process of senescence. The results showed drought-induced accumulation of hexose sugars (glucose and fructose) in rice flag leaves, which could be corroborated with enhanced accumulation of MST8 under drought stress. On the other hand, cytokinin-treated plants maintained the normal contents of hexose sugar in their flag leaves under drought stress, alike well-watered plants. In the case of sucrose, cytokinin treatment reduced its accumulation at tillering stage, but the results were reversed at the grain-filling stage, where the cytokinin-treated plants maintained significantly higher contents of sucrose under drought stress. Growth stage dependent variations in sucrose contents corroborated with the accumulation of SPS (SPS1, SPS2, and SPS5) proteins, implicated in sucrose biosynthesis. In our study, among the proteins involved in sucrose transport, SUT1 transporter was induced by drought stress at both the growth stages, whereas SUT2 transporter accumulated equally in all the treatments. However, cytokinin treatment reversed the effect of drought on the accumulation of SUT1. Similarly, SWEET5, and SWEET13 proteins, which were induced by drought stress treatment, were inhibited by cytokinin treatment. However, the accumulation SWEET6, SWEET7, and SWEET15 was not influenced by the treatment of cytokinin in the flag leaves of rice. In addition, cytokinin treatment reduced the leaf wilting, enhanced the fresh weight and grain yield, and curtailed the accumulation of proteins involved in drought-induced senescence. In conclusion, the cytokinin treatment had a positive agro-economic impact on the rice plants and provided better drought adaptability.