Genetic improvement of rice for biotic and abiotic stress tolerance using molecular breeding

Scientific Team:

Dr. M. K. Modi, Professor & Head, Agricultural Biotechnology, AAU, Jorhat (PI).

Dr. S. K. Chetia, Chief Scientist, PBG, RARS, Titabar (PI).

Advisors: Dr. N. K. Singh, NIPB and Dr. Arvind Kumar, ICRISAT

Objectives:

• 1) Identification of QTL/candidate gene for biotic/abiotic stress tolerance.

  • Genome wide association studies (GWAS) for yield traits in Sali rice accessions.

  • GWAS for drought tolerance traits in Ahu rice accessions.

  • Bi-parental mapping of QTLs for submergence tolerance.

  • High density mapping of QTLs associated with drought tolerance (Ranjit x Banglami).

• 2) Introgression of QTLs/genes for biotic (Bacterial Leaf Blight, Blast) and abiotic (Drought) stress tolerance in local rice varieties.

  • Introgression of Bacterial Leaf Blight and Blast resistance genes in rice.

  • Molecular breeding for development of drought tolerant rice varieties.

Salient accomplishment:

• 60 significant associations detected using 50K SNPs for 11 agronomic traits, Phenotypic Variance (PV): 0-15%. (Verma et al, 2021, Genomics)

• 30 QTLs (P.V:1.95-13.80%.) were identified for yield traits under drought (Banglami x Ranjit)

• 38 QTLs (PV:1.97-12.42%) mapped for yield traits under drought in ‘Koni Ahu x Disang’

• Development of Bi-parental mapping population (F1s) for submergence tolerance

• Development of breeding population against BLB and Blast stress

• Two BC₂F₄ lines will be forwarded to AVT-NIL (drought) during 2022

Expected outputs :

• Gel-based functional markers for the SNPs associated with major yield traits

• Identification of Major QTLs/ candidate genes for drought and submergence stress

• BLB, Blast and drought tolerant rice varieties

• Introgression of drought tolerance in mega rice variety Ranjit Sub-1/Bahadur Sub-1.

• Development of biotic/abiotic stress tolerance in popular rice varieties of various North Eastern states i.e., Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura and Meghalaya.