Decrement of Sugar Consumption in Rice Young Panicle Under High Temperature Aggravates Spikelet Number Reduction

Two rice genotypes Huanghuazhan (HHZ, heat-resistant) and IR36 (heat-susceptible) were subjected to high-temperature (HT, 40 °C) and normal-temperature (NT, 32 °C) treatments at the spikelet differentiation stage. HT treatment inhibited spikelet differentiation, aggravated spikelet degeneration, reduced spikelet size, and disordered carbohydrate allocation. Meanwhile, HT treatment increased nonstructural carbohydrate content in leaves, but decreased that in stems and young panicles, and the same tendencies of sucrose and starch contents were observed in leaves and stem. However, HT treatment significantly increased the sucrose content and sharply decreased the glucose and fructose contents in young panicles. Lower activity levels of soluble acid invertase (EC3.2.1.26) and sucrose synthase (EC2.4.1.13) were observed under HT treatment. Moreover, HT treatment reduced the activities of key enzymes associated with glycolysis and the tricarboxylic acid cycle, which indicated sucrose consumption was inhibited in young panicles under HT treatment. Exogenous glucose and fructose applied under HT treatment increased the spikelet number more than exogenous sucrose. In conclusion, the results demonstrated that the reduction of spikelet number under high temperature was more affected by the decrease in sugar consumption than the blocking of sucrose transport. The impairment of sucrose hydrolysis was the main reason for the inhibition of sugar utilization.