Influence of Moisture Content,Variety and Parboiling on Milling Quality of Rice Grains

The effects of moisture content （8%, 10%and 12%）, variety （Tarom and Fajr） and parboiling on milling quality of rice as a function of milling recovery （MR）, head rice yield （HRY）, degree of milling （DOM） and whiteness were investigated. The parboiled grains was prepared with three soaking temperatures of 25 oC, 50 oC and 75 oC and three steaming times of 10, 15 and 20 min. As a result of parboiling, the increasing rates of MR and HRY values were 7.8%and 14.3%for Tarom and 9.8%and 10.0%for Fajr, respectively, and the decreasing rates for DOM and whiteness were 6.6%and 10.8%for Tarom and 6.8% and 10.5% for Fajr, respectively. Moreover, decreasing moisture content to 8%maximized MR （75.8% for Tarom and 74.3% for Fajr） and HRY （65.8% for Tarom and 57.0% for Fajr） while increasing that to 12%revealed maximum values of DOM （6.1%for Tarom and 6.2%for Fajr） and whiteness （24.8%for Tarom and 28.2%for Fajr）.

Analysis of genetic relationships between grain milling quality traits and plant agronomic traits of rice

Since seed and maternal plant are in different generations,the grain milling traits and plant agronomic traits of rice are based on differentgenetic models.Using the genetic modelswhich could estimate covariance componentsbetween two traits with unequal design matri-ces,we analyzed the gentic relationships be-

Influences of harvester and weather conditions on field loss and milling quality of rough rice

A better understanding of factors affecting field losses and milling quality during harvest is needed to improve the economic value of rice.The main objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of harvester header,harvester type,and weather conditions on field loss and milling quality of rough rice.Four popular harvesters equipped with different headers:John Deere 9870 with header D60-S,John Deere 9860 with header D972-S,Hardy,and John Deere 9770 with stripper header were evaluated in this study.The header and total field losses of rice were evaluated for each harvester under regular,rainy and windy weather conditions.Tests were conducted in a rice field cultivated with medium grain rice,variety M206,at Grimes,CA.Total rice yield(TRY),head rice yield(HRY)and whiteness index(WI)were examined to evaluate the effect of weather conditions on milling quality.The obtained results revealed that the rice field loss was affected by harvester header and type,and weather conditions.Among the conventional headers,D60-S significantly reduced the rice loss compared to the D972-S and the Hardy.Harvesting with John Deere 9860 resulted in significant header and field loss compared to other tested harvesters.The average loss increased from 236.2 kg/hm^(2)and 445.2 kg/hm^(2)under regular condition to 711.1 kg/hm^(2)and 907.9 kg/hm^(2)under windy condition for John Deere 9870 and John Deere 9860,respectively.The corresponding loss percentages increased from 2.6%and 4.9%to 7.9%and 10.1%.HRY was significantly affected by weather condition at harvest time.However,the weather condition had no significant effect on TRY and WI.To minimize the rice field loss and obtain good milling quality,commercial rice harvesting during regular weather conditions is important.A proper combination of harvester type and header could be vital for reducing the rice loss.

Genetic mechanism of heterosis for rice milling and appearance quality in an elite rice hybrid

Development of hybrid rice with high yield and grain quality is a goal of rice breeding.To investigate the genetic mechanism of heterosis for rice milling and appearance quality in indica/xian rice,QTL mapping was conducted using 1061 recombinant inbred lines(RILs)derived from a cross of the xian rice cultivars Quan 9311B(Q9311B)and Wu-shan-si-miao(WSSM),and a backcross F_(1)(BC_(1)F_(1)) population developed by crossing the RILs with Quan 9311A(Q9311A),combined with phenotyping in two environments.The F_(1) hybrid(Q9311A×WSSM)showed various degrees of heterosis for milling and appearance quality.A total of 142 main-effect QTL(M-QTL)and 407 pairs of epistatic QTL(E-QTL)were identified for five milling and appearance quality traits and grain yield per plant(GYP)in the RIL,BC_(1)F_(1) and mid-parental heterosis(H_(MP)) populations.Differential detection of QTL in three populations revealed that most additive loci detected in the RILs did not show heterotic effects,but some of them did contribute to BC_(1)F_(1) trait performance.Unlike heterosis of GYP,single-locus overdominance and epistasis were the main contributors to heterosis for milling and appearance quality.Epistasis contributed more to the heterosis for milling quality than to that for appearance quality.Three(four)QTL regions harboring opposite(consistent)directions of favorable allele effects for GYP and grain quality were identified,indicating the presence of partial genetic overlaps between GYP and grain quality.Three strategies are proposed to develop hybrid rice with high yield and good grain quality:1)pyramiding favorable alleles with consistent directions of gene effects for GYP and grain quality at the M-QTL on different chromosomes;2)introgressing favorable alleles for GYP and grain quality into the parents and then pyramiding and fixing these additive effects in hybrids;and 3)pyramiding overdominant and dominant loci and minimizing or eliminating underdominant loci from the parents.

Genetic and Genotype × Environment Interaction Effects for Appearance Quality of Rice

This study was conducted to generate genetic information in rice varieties based on a complete diallel crosses over two years. The results indicated that genotype effect was significant for all traits. Genotype × environment interaction effects were significant only for cooked grain length （CGL） and cooked grain shape （CGSH）. General combining ability （GCA） and specific combining ability （SCA） effects were significant for entire traits, which indicated the important roles of both additive and non-additive gene actions. GCA x environment interaction effects were significant for CGL, CGSH and grain elongation index （GEI）. In the controlling of the inheritance of milled grain shape （GSH）, milled grain width （MGW）, GEI, milled grain length （MGL）, CGSH and cooked grain width （CGW）, the additive gene effects were more important than non-additive one. The average degree of dominance was within the range of partial dominance for all of the traits. The narrow-sense heritability was ranged from 0.65 （GSH） to 0.36 （CGL）. GCA effects were significant for all of the parents in milled grain length and it was significant for some of the parents in other traits. The crosses of Deilmani × IRFAON-215 exhibited significant SCA for GEI. The positive mean of heterosis was observed for CGW. The highest maximum values of heterosis were revealed in GEI, flowed by GSH, MGW and CGW. GCA and MPV were significantly and positively correlated together for all traits.

Variation in Yield and Physicochemical Quality Traits among Mutants of Japonica Rice Cultivar Wuyujing 3

To select elite germplasms, 112 mutants derived from japonica rice cultivar Wuyujing 3 were evaluated. The yield components such as panicle number per square meter, grain number per panicle, and grain weight were measured. The quality traits such as percentage of chalky grains（PCG）, brown rice yield（BRY）, milled rice yield（MRY）, degree of milling（DM）, amylose content（AC）, protein content（PC）, and relationships among traits were inverstigated. Results showed that grain yield ranged from 2.15 to 12.49 t/hm2 with a mean of 6.4 t/hm2 and number of grains per square meter contributed for 94.64% in grain yield variation. For quality traits, all rice mutants had short size（grain length ≤ 5.5 mm） and bold shape（grain length to width ratio = 1.10-2.00）. Most of rice mutants（87.5%） had PCG values below 20%. All mutants had MRY values above 50%, AC values below 20%, and PC values below 10%. Percentage of chalky grains was significantly negatively correlated with MRY and positively correlated with DM. BRY and MRY were significantly negatively correlated with DM. PC was significantly and positively correlated with MRY and negatively correlated with DM, while AC had no significant correlation with these quality traits. It was concluded that there were 25 rice mutants which fulfilled the major requirements of Jiangsu standard japonica rice such as low percentage of chalky grains, low amylose content, optimal protein content, and which could be used as elite germplasms. Thus the mutants identified may lead to significant progress in improvement of rice quality.

Effect of Interplanting with Zero Tillage and Straw Manure on Rice Growth and Rice Quality

The interplanting with zero-tillage of rice, i.e. direct sowing rice 10-20 days before wheat harvesting, and remaining about 30-cm high stubble after cutting wheat or rice with no tillage, is a new cultivation technology in wheat-rice rotation system. To study the effects of interplanting with zero tillage and straw manure on rice growth and quality, an experiment was conducted in a wheat-rotation rotation system. Four treatments, i.e. ZIS （Zero-tillage, straw manure and rice interplanting）, Zt （Zero-tillage, no straw manure and rice interplanting）, PTS （Plowing tillage, straw manure and rice transplanting）, and PT （Plowing tillage, no straw manure and rice transplanting）, were used. ZtS reduced plant height, leaf area per plant and the biomass of rice plants, but the biomass accumulation of rice at the late stage was quicker than that under conventional transplanting cultivation. In the first year （2002）, there was no significant difference in rice yield among the four treatments. However, rice yield decreased in interplanting with zero-tillage in the second year （2003）. Compared with the transplanting treatments, the number of filled grains per panicle decreased but l000-grain weight increased in interplanting with zero-tillage, which were the main factors resulting in higher yield, tnterplanting with zero-tillage improved the milling and appearance qualities of rice. The rates of milled and head rice increased while chalky rice rate and chalkiness decreased in interplanting with zero-tillage. Zero-tillage and interplanting also affected rice nutritional and cooking qualities. In 2002, ZIS showed raised protein content, decreased amylose content, softer gel consistency, resulting in improved rice quality. In 2003, zero-tillage and interplanting decreased protein content and showed similar amylose content as compared with transplanting treatments. Moreover, protein content in PTS was obviously increased in comparison with the other three treatments. The rice in interplanting with zero-tillage treatments had higher peak viscosity and breakdown, lower setback, showing better rice taste quality. The straw manure had no significant effect on rice viscosity under interplanting with zero-tillage, but had the negative influence on the rice taste quality under transplanting with plowing tillage.

Milling Research and Tool Selection Design of SiC14Cu4Mg0.5Si based on Aluminium Matrix 2A14

The selection of milling tools for Si C14Cu4Mg0.5Si based on Aluminium matrix 2A14 was analyzed, and the factors that affect the efficiency of the milling were discussed. The Si C14Cu4Mg0.5Si was designed for use on the moon landing vehicle or missile wings, but the hardness of aluminium-silicon carbide composite material was very high, much higher than the general hardness of cemented carbide, which will bring many difficulties in the aluminium-silicon carbide composite material processing. The chemical compositions of Si C14Cu4Mg0.5Si were analyzed. A new selected indexable cutter was designed to mill Si C14Cu4Mg0.5Si. The structure design of milling cutter was different from the conventional milling cutter, breaking the previous limitations to a certain extent, pioneering the idea. The tool material wear was detected by experiments. The mechanical and physical properties of Si C14Cu4Mg0.5Si were also tested. Si C14Cu4Mg0.5Si exhibited different surface quality characteristics under different milling tools.

Identification of Quantitative Trait Loci for Grain Appearance and Milling Quality Using a Doubled-Haploid Rice Population

Improving grain quality, which is composed primarily of the appearance of the grain and its cooking and milling attributes, is a major objective of many rice-producing areas in China. In the present study, we conducted a marker-based genetic analysis of the appearance and milling quality of rice （Oryza sativa L.） grains using a doubled-haploid population derived from a cross between the indica inbred Zhenshan 97 strain and the japonica inbred Wuyujing 2 strain. Quantitative trait locus （QTL） analysis using a mixed linear model approach revealed that the traits investigated were affected by one to seven QTLs that individually explained 4.0%-30.7% of the phenotypic variation. Cumulatively, the QTL for each trait explained from 12.9% to 61.4% of the phenotypic variation. Some QTLs tended to have a pleiotropic or location-linked association as a cause of the observed phenotypic correlations between different traits. Improvement of the characteristics of grain appearance and grain weight, as well as an improvement in the milling quality of rice grains, would be expected by a recombination of different QTLs using marker-assisted selection.

QTL Mapping for Hull Thickness and Related Traits in Hybrid Rice Xieyou 9308

We conducted a quantitative trait locus （QTL） analysis of 165 rice recombinant inbred lines derived from a cross between Zhonghui 9308 （Z9308） and Xieqingzao B （XB） in Hainan and Hangzhou, China. Grain thickness （GT）, brown rice thickness （BRT）, hull thickness （HT） and milling quality were used for QTL mapping. HT was significantly and positively correlated with GT and BRT. Twenty-nine QTLs were detected with phenotypic effects ranging from 2.80% to 21.27%. Six QTLs, qGT3, qBRT3, qBRT4, qHT6.1, qHT8 and qHT11, were detected repeatedly across two environments. Inherited from XB qHT6.1, qHT8 and qHT11 showed stable expression, explaining 9.92%, 21.27% and 10.83% of the phenotypic variances in Hainan and 9.61%, 6.40% and 6.71% in Hangzhou, respectively. Additionally, the QTL cluster between RM5944 and RM5626 on chromosome 3 was probably responsible for GT and milling quality. The cluster between RM6992 and RM6473 on chromosome 4 played an important role in grain filling. Three near isogenic lines （NILs）, X345, X338 and X389, were selected because they contained homozygous fragments from Zhonghui 9308, corresponding to qHT6.1, qHT8 and qHT11, respectively. The hull of XB was thicker than those of X345, X338 and X389. In all the lines, qHT6.1, qHT8 and qHT11 that regulated rice HT were stably inherited with obvious genetic effects.