ABSTRACT
MAIN CONCLUSION: Stomatal traits in rice genotypes affect water use efficiency. Low-frequency small-size stomata correlate with whole plant efficiency, while low-frequency large-size stomata show intrinsic efficiency and responsiveness to vapour pressure deficit. Leaf surface and the patterning of the epidermal layer play a vital role in determining plant growth. While the surface helps in determining radiation interception, epidermal pattern of stomatal factors strongly regulate gas exchange and water use efficiency (WUE). This study focuses on identifying distinct stomatal traits among rice genotypes to comprehend their influence on WUE. Stomatal frequency ranged from 353 to 687 per mm2 and the size varied between 128.31 and 339.01 µm2 among 150 rice germplasm with significant variability in abaxial and adaxial surfaces. The cumulative water transpired and WUE determined at the outdoor phenomics platform, over the entire crop growth period as well as during specific hours of a 24 h-day did not correlate with stomatal frequency nor size. However, genotypes with low-frequency and large-size stomata recorded higher intrinsic water use efficiency (67.04 µmol CO2 mol-1 H2O) and showed a quicker response to varying vapour pressure deficit that diurnally ranged between 0.03 and 2.17 kPa. The study demonstrated the role of stomatal factors in determining physiological subcomponents of WUE both at single leaf and whole plant levels. Differential expression patterns of stomatal regulatory genes among the contrasting groups explained variations in the epidermal patterning. Increased expression of ERECTA, TMM and YODA genes appear to contribute to decreased stomatal frequency in low stomatal frequency genotypes. These findings underscore the significance of stomatal traits in breeding programs and strongly support the importance of these genes that govern variability in stomatal architecture in future crop improvement programs.