Breeding of near-isogenic japonica rice lines with three major genes for resistance to bacterial blight

From 1986 to 1993, a set of near-isogenic japonicarice Iines with three major genes Xα-3, Xα - 4,and Xα-12 for resistance to bacterial blight(Xan-thomonas oryzae pv.oryzae)were developed anddesignated as CBB3, CBB4, and CBB12 respective-

Selection of wide compatible restorer lines and their application in hybrid rice breeding

Since the middle of 1980’s, wide compatibility(WC) rice lines have been screened by ricebreeders in China and applied in hybrid ricebreeding program. Several WC lines such asPecos, T984, Lunhui 422, and 02428 withideal agronomic characters were identified. Weincorporated the WC gene into restorer linesby crossing these japonica WC lines with ob-tained indica lines. Some WC restorer lineswith indica-japonica medium type were ob-tained and their application value in intersub-specific hybrid rice breeding were evaluated. 1. Effect of crossing methods on selectionefficiencies of WC restorer lines

A remarkable progress in breeding new rice line through gene engineering

Much progress has been made in the research of breeding new rice line through gene engineering by Life Science College of Fudan Univ, Shanghai, and the Plant Science Res Inst of Shanghai Acad of Agri. It was the first time internationally that the research adopted a man-combined gene, taking agrobacterium as car-

Utilization of aromatic rice in improving grain quality of hybrid rice(Ⅱ)

Xiangxiang 2A has an evident drawback, i.e., instability in male sterility under higher temperature conditions resulting from the existence of minor restoring genes in it, which greatly hampered the extension of its elite hybrid Xiangyou 63 with both high yield and fine quality in commercial production. To improve Xiangxiang 2A, the hybridization of Xiangxiang 2B with V20 B was made again in 1990. A new aromatic CMS line Xinxiang A was successfully developed in 1994. It not only retains the favorable characteristics of Xiangxiang 2A in grain quality and combining ability, but also expresses complete and stable male sterility and high seed production yield potential. Up to now, by using it as female parent, a series of quasi aromatic hybrids have been developed. Some of them have been released to farmers. Because such hybrids can not only yield higher or as high as but also possess a better grain quality than the current common high yielding hybrid rice varieties,so that they are preferred and well welcome by the farmers in China. The planting area under these hybrids is increasing rapidly in China.

The breeding of two polyploid rice lines with the characteristic of polyploid meiosis stability

Polyploidization is a basic feature of plant evolution. Nearly all of the main food, cotton and oil crops are polyploid. When ploidy levels increase, yields double; this phenomenon suggested a new strategy of rice breeding that utilizes wide crosses and polyploidization dual advantages to breed super rice. Because low seed set rates in polyploid rice usually makes it difficult to breed, the selection of Ph-liked gene lines was emphasized. After progenies of indica-japonica were identified and selected, two poly- ploid lines, PMeS-1 and PMeS-2 with Polyploid Meiosis Stability (PMeS) genes were bred. The proce- dure included seven steps: selecting parents, crossing or multiple crossing, back-crossing, doubling chromosomes, identifying the polyploid, and choosing plants with high seed set rates that can breed themselves into stable lines. The characteristics of PMeS were determined by observing meiotic be- haviors and by cross-identification of seed sets. PMeS-1 and PMeS-2, (japonica rice), have several characteristics different from other polyploid rice lines, including a higher rate of seed set (more than 65%, increasing to more than 70% in their F1 offspring); and stable meiotic behaviors (pairing with bi- valents and quarivalents nearly without over-quarivalent in prophase, nearly without lagging chromo- somes in metaphase and without micronuclei in anaphase and telophase). The latter was obviously different from control polyploid line Dure-4X, which displayed abnormal meiotic behaviors including a higher rate of multivalents, univalents and trivalents in prophase, lagging chromosomes in metaphase and micronuclei in anaphase and telophase. There were also three differences of the breeding method between PMeS lines and normal diploid lines: chromosomes doubling, polyploidism identifying and higher seed set testing. The selection of PMeS lines is the first step in polyploid rice breeding; their use will advance the progress of polyploid rice breeding, which will in turn offer a new way to breed super rice.

DNA methylation polymorphism and stability in Chinese indica hybrid rice

Conventional rice breeding has long focused on exploiting the DNA sequence diversity.However,epigenetic diversity,reflected particularly in DNA methylation,can also contribute to phenotypic variation and should not be overlooked in rice breeding.In this study,20 parental lines of indica rice,which are widely used in hybrid rice breeding in China,were analyzed to investigate variations of DNA methylation and its inheritance.The results revealed a wide diversity in DNA methylation among these breeding lines.A positive correlation was seen between DNA methylation and genetic diversity.Furthermore,some of the methylated DNA was inherited in the subsequent generation,regardless of whether they were produced by selfing or hybrid-crossing.This study provides insight into the methylation patterns in rice,and suggests the importance of epigenetic diversity in rice breeding.