Characterization of the effect of a QTL for drought resistance in rice, qtl12.1, over a range of environments in the Philippines and eastern India

• Published in: Euphytica 2009-03, Vol.166 (2), p.207-217
• Main Authors: Bernier, Jérôme, Kumar, Arvind, Venuprasad, Ramaiah, Spaner, Dean, Verulkar, Satish, Mandal, Nimai P, Sinha, Pramod K, Peeraju, Puvvada, Dongre, Praba R, Mahto, R. N, Atlin, Gary
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptation to environment and cultivation conditions; Aerobic conditions; Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biotechnology; Crop science; Crop yield; Drought; Drought resistance; drought stress intensity; drought tolerance; field experimentation; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genetics and breeding of economic plants; Genotype & phenotype; genotype-environment interaction; grain yield; Life Sciences; Oryza sativa; Plant Genetics and Genomics; Plant Pathology; Plant Physiology; Plant resistance; Plant Sciences; qtl12.1 locus; quantitative trait loci; Rice; Transgenic plants; Varietal selection. Specialized plant breeding, plant breeding aims; water stress
• ISSN: 0014-2336; 1573-5060
• DOI: 10.1007/s10681-008-9826-y

A large-effect QTL for grain yield under drought conditions (qtl12.1) was reported in a rice mapping population derived from Vandana and Way Rarem. Here, we measured the effect of qtl12.1 on grain yield and associated traits in 21 field trials: ten at IRRI in the Philippines and 11 in the target environment of eastern India. The relative effect of the QTL on grain yield increased with increasing intensity of drought stress, from having no effect under well-watered conditions to having an additive effect of more than 40% of the trial mean in the most severe stress treatments. The QTL improved grain yield in nine out of ten direct-seeded upland trials where drought stress was severe or moderate, but no effect was measured under well-watered aerobic conditions or under transplanted lowland conditions. These trials confirm that qtl12.1 has a large and consistent effect on grain yield under upland drought stress conditions, in a wide range of environments.