Transcriptomics and physiology reveal the mechanism of potassium indole-3-butyrate (IBAK) mediating rice resistance to salt stress

BACKGROUND: IBAK, as a plant growth regulator, has broad application prospects in improving crop resistance to abiotic stress. RESULTS: In this study, the regulation mechanism of IBAK on rice was revealed by physiology and transcriptomics by spraying 80 mg·L(−1) IBAK solution on rice leaves at the early jointing stage under salt stress. The results showed that spraying IBAK solution on leaves under salt stress could significantly increase K(+) content, decrease Na(+) content, increase net photosynthetic rate (Pn), and increase the activity of catalase (CAT) and the contents of glutathione (GSH) and soluble protein in rice leaves. Using IBAK under salt stress increased the expression of plant hormone signal transduction pathway-related genes LOC4332548 and LOC4330957, which may help rice to more effectively sense and respond to plant hormone signals and enhance resistance to salt stress. In addition, the photosynthesis pathway-related genes LOC4339270, LOC4327150, and LOC4346326 were upregulated after using IBAK under salt stress, and the upregulation of these genes may be beneficial to improve the efficiency of photosynthesis and increase the photosynthetic capacity of rice. Regarding starch and sucrose metabolism pathway, spraying IBAK on leaves could promote the expression of sucrose synthesis-related gene LOC4347800 and increase the expression of starch synthesis-related genes LOC4330709 and LOC4343010 under salt stress. Finally, IBAK spraying resulted in the upregulation of multiple 50 S and 30 S ribosomal protein genes in the ribosome pathway, which may increase protein synthesis, help maintain cell function, and promote rice growth and development. CONCLUSION: The results of this study revealed the mechanism of IBAK mediating resistance to salt stress in rice. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12870-023-04531-1.