Developing rice restorer lines resistant to bacterial blight, blast and brown plant hopper by molecular pyramiding – IJAAR

Gandéka Mamadou, Yan Chengye, Ratemo B. Omboki, Wang Xiaojian, Xu Guo Xin, Mo Chong Hong, Tongmin Mou

Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Molecular and Cell Biology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China

Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Breeding by Design, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China

Huazhong Agricultural University, Department of Plant Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

Key words: Rice, Bacterial blight, Blast, Brown plant hopper, Molecular pyramiding.

Abstract

Bacterial blight, blast and brown plant hopper resistance (BB, BL and BPH respectively) genes Xa23, Pi-9, Bph14 and Bph15 were pyramided into an elite restorer line R1005 by using marker assisted selection backcrossing (MABC) and simple sequence repeats (SSR). PCR markers facilitated and accelerated the process of pyramiding of Xa23, Pi-9, Bph14 and Bph15 genes. In this study 75-1-127 harboring Pi9, JYQ9008 harboring Xa23, and B5 harboring Bph14 and Bph15 against resistant bacterial blight, blast and brown planthopper were used as R-genes donor respectively. The pyramided genes and evaluation of agronomic traits related to bacterial blight, blast and brown plant hopper represent best ways in which resistance can be studied. Largest resistance levels were observed against the bacterial blight followed by blast and lastly brown plant hopper pyramid lines. PCR markers for these four genes, Xa23, Pi-9, Bph14, 15 were made available. DNA marker technology was used to identify plants that contained resistant genes to BB, BL and BPH. Restorer lines are known to determine success of pyramided genes. Hence careful background searches should be done before settling on one. Resistant lines can really be the answer to environmental problems that hamper growth of food crops particularly rice and ensure food security for the vulnerable people in society. Pyramiding is considered an ethical way of creating better varieties. The newly variety we created that was resistant to all the three factors had a higher yield than the control. These traits were carried through successive generations as was the case in the hybrid variety.