Genetic dissection of rice appearance quality and cooked rice elongation by genome-wide association study

Appearance and cooked rice elongation are key quality traits of rice. Although some QTL for these traits have been identified, understanding of the genetic relationship between them remains limited. In the present study, large phenotypic variation was observed in 760 accessions from the 3 K Rice Genomes Project for both appearance quality and cooked rice elongation. Most component traits of appearance quality and cooked rice elongation showed significant pairwise correlations, but a low correlation was found between appearance quality and cooked rice elongation. A genome-wide association study identified 74 QTL distributed on all 12 chromosomes for grain length, grain width, length to width ratio, degree of endosperm with chalkiness, rice elongation difference, and elongation index. Thirteen regions containing QTL stably expressed in multiple environments and/or exerting pleiotropic effects on multiple traits were detected. By gene-based association analysis and haplotype analysis, 46 candidate genes, including five cloned genes, and 49 favorable alleles were identified for these 13 QTL. The effect of the candidate gene Wx on rice elongation difference was validated by a transgenic strategy. These results shed light on the genetic bases of appearance quality and cooked rice elongation and provide gene resources for improving rice quality by molecular breeding.

QTL underlying iron and zinc toxicity tolerances at seedling stage revealed by two sets of reciprocal introgression populations of rice(Oryza sativa L.)

Iron and zinc are two trace elements that are essential for rice. But they are toxic at higher concentrations, leading to severe rice yield losses especially in acid soils and inland valleys. In this study, two reciprocal introgression line(IL) populations sharing the same parents were used with high-density SNP bin markers to identify QTL tolerant to iron and zinc toxicities. The results indicated that the japonica variety 02,428 had stronger tolerance to iron and zinc toxicities than the indica variety Minghui 63. Nine and ten QTL contributing to iron and zinc toxicity tolerances,respectively, were identified in the two IL populations. The favorable alleles of most QTL came from 02,428. Among them, q FRRDW2, q ZRRDW3, and q FRSDW11 appeared to be independent of genetic background. The region C11S49–C11S60 on chromosome 11 harbored QTL affecting multiple iron and zinc toxicity tolerance-related traits, indicating partial genetic overlap between the two toxicity tolerances. Our results provide essential information and materials for developing excellent rice cultivars with iron and/or zinc tolerance by marker-assisted selection(MAS).

A prolific and robust whole-genome genotyping method using PCR amplification via primer-template mismatched annealing

Whole-genome genotyping methods are important for breeding.However,it has been challenging to develop a robust method for simultaneous foreground and background genotyping that can easily be adapted to different genes and species.In our study,we accidently discovered that in adapter ligation-mediated PCR,the amplification by primertemplate mismatched annealing(PTMA)along the genome could generate thousands of stable PCR products.Based on this observation,we consequently developed a novel method for simultaneous foreground and background integrated genotyping by sequencing(FBI-seq)using one specific primer,in which foreground genotyping is performed by primer-template perfect annealing(PTPA),while background genotyping employs PTMA.Unlike DNA arrays,multiple PCR,or genome target enrichments,FBI-seq requires little preliminary work for primer design and synthesis,and it is easily adaptable to different foreground genes and species.FBI-seq therefore provides a prolific,robust,and accurate method for simultaneous foreground and background genotyping to facilitate breeding in the postgenomics era.