Registration of TIL:383.13, TIL:625 and TIL:634, Three Long Grain Tropical Japonica Rice Germplasm Lines Containing Novel Indica Alleles that Increase Tiller Production and Grain Yield

Abstract

Three rice (Oryza sativa L.) germplasm lines designated TIL:383.13 (Reg. No. GP‐144, GSOR 100605), TIL:625 (Reg. No. GP‐145, GSOR 100698), and TIL:634 (Reg. No. GP‐146, GSOR 100702), contain a total of seven alleles of indica rice origin associated with earlier development and increased numbers of tillers during early plant development stages in an elite US tropical japonica rice genetic background having long grain shape and intermediate amylose content and gelatinization temperature. The three high‐tillering introgression lines also exhibit increased panicle number and grain yield and were jointly released in 2016 by the USDA‐ARS and Texas A&M Agrilife Research. The novel alleles for enhanced tiller production originated from ‘TeQing’, an indica rice cultivar from China, and were transferred through a series of backcrossing into lines having a predominantly ‘Lemont’ genetic background. TeQing is well known in the United States for both its high yield and its disease resistance but is not suitable for commercial production due to lodging and poor grain quality. A combination of molecular and phenotypic data was used to identify these three improved germplasm lines from among 123 TeQing‐into‐Lemont backcross introgression lines. A combination of phenotypic and molecular data was used to select three lines from among 123 TeQing‐into‐Lemont backcross introgression lines.