An implementation plan for using biological indicators to improve assessment of water quality in Thailand

The present study showed a possibility to use phenotypic and proteomic responses in rice plants as an in vivo biomarker to detect higher concentrations of ambient ozone (O₃). The investigation was done on two cultivars of Indian rice using open top chambers ventilated with charcoal filtered air, ambient air, ambient air with 10 ppb O₃ exposure and ambient air with 20 ppb O₃ exposure at a rural site of Varanasi, India. Results showed that the magnitude of O₃ induced specific type of foliar injury directly depends on the duration and concentration of O₃ exposure. Even the internal protein profile of injured and normal leaf demonstrated a differential expression, which directly indicates towards the molecular basis of plant’s response against O₃.