Identification of Rice QTLs for Important Agronomic Traits with Long-Kernel CSSL-Z741 and Three SSSLs

Rice kernel shape affects kernel quality(appearance) and yield(1000-kernel weight) and therefore is an important agronomic trait, but its inheritance is complicated. We identified a long-kernel rice chromosome segment substitution line(CSSL), Z741, derived from Nipponbare as a recipient and Xihui 18 as a donor parent. Z741 has six substitution segments distributed on rice chromosomes 3, 6, 7, 8 and 12 with an average replacement length of 5.82 Mb. Analysis of a secondary F2 population from a cross between Nipponbare and Z741 identified 20 QTLs for important agronomic traits. The kernel length of Z741 is controlled by a major QTL(qKL3) and a minor QTL(qKL7). Candidate gene prediction and sequencing indicated that qKL3 may be an allele of OsPPKL1, which encodes a protein phosphatase implicated in brassinosteroid signaling, and qKL7 is an unreported QTL. Finally, we validated eight QTLs(qKL3, qKL7, qRLW3-1, qRLW7, qPH3-1, qKWT3, qKWT7 and qNPB6) using three selected singlesegment substitution lines(SSSLs), S1, S2 and S3. Also, we detected five QTLs(qKL6, qKW3, qKW7, qKW6 and qRLW6) in S1, S2 and S3, which were not found in the Nipponbare/Z741 F2 population. However, qNPB3, qNPB7 and qPL3 QTLs were not validated by the three SSSLs in 2019, suggesting that minor QTLs are susceptible to environmental factors. These results lay the foundation for studying the biodiversity of kernal length and molecular breeding of different kernel types.