Abstract
In this study, one rice population of recombinant inbred lines (RILs) was used to determine the genetic characteristics of seed reserve utilization during the early (day 6), middle (day 10) and late (day 14) germination stages. The seedling dry weight (SDW) and weight of the mobilized seed reserve (WMSR) were increased, while the seed reserve utilization efficiency (SRUE) decreased, during the process of seed germination. The SDW and WMSR were affected by the seed weight, while the SRUE was not affected by the seed weight. A total of twenty unconditional and twenty-one conditional additive QTLs and eight epistatic QTLs were identified at three germination stages, and the more QTLs were expressed at the late germination stage. Among them, twelve additive and three epistatic QTLs for SDW, eight additive and three epistatic QTLs for WMSR and thirteen additive and two epistatic QTLs for SRUE were identified, respectively. The phenotypic variation explained by each additive QTL, epistatic QTL and QTL × development interaction ranged from 6.10 to 23.91%, 1.79 to 6.88% and 0.22 to 2.86%, respectively. Two major additive QTLs qWMSR7.1 and qSRUE4.3 were identified, and each QTL could explain more than 20% of the total phenotypic variance. By comparing the chromosomal positions of these additive QTLs with those previously identified, eleven QTLs might represent novel genes. The best four cross combinations of each trait for the development of RIL populations were selected. The selected RILs and the identified QTLs might be applicable to improve rice seed reserve utilization by the marker-assisted selection approach.
Highlights
Vigorous seedling growth is essential for profitable and sustainable crop production
A total of twenty unconditional and twenty-one conditional additive Quantitative trait loci (QTL) and eight epistatic QTLs were identified at three germination stages, and the more QTLs were expressed at the late germination stage
Two major additive QTLs qWMSR7.1 and qSRUE4.3 were identified, and each QTL could explain more than 20% of the total phenotypic variance
Summary
Vigorous seedling growth is essential for profitable and sustainable crop production. Seedling establishment begins with the appearance of the radicle and terminates when the seedling has exhausted the seed’s energy reserves and starts to carry out photosynthesis [1]. Germination and heterotrophic growth are crucial steps for the establishment of crops. By definition, seed vigor is the ability of a seed lot to establish seedlings successfully under a wide range of conditions [2]. I.e., the rapid, uniform and complete emergence of vigorous seedlings, leads to high competition against weeds, uniform harvest and a high grain yield potential in rice. Improving rice seed vigor is an important objective in rice breeding programs
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