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One hundred and ninety three parental lines obtained from 26 countries for an international rice molecular breeding program were evaluated using 101 well-distributed simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. An overall genetic diversity of 0.68 and an average of 6.3 alleles per locus were revealed, indicating a high level of genetic variation in these lines. Cluster analysis of the 193 accessions showed three major groups and nine subgroups. Group I corresponded to the classical indica subspecies, whereas groups II and III belong to the japonica subspecies. Indica and japonica differentiation accounted for only 6.5% of the total variation in the entire sample and 93.5% was due to within-subspecies diversity. Differentiation among eco-geographic regions accounted for 24% of the diversity within the subspecies. Larger amounts of the eco-geographical differentiation were resolved within japonica than within indica. The largest indica-japonica differentiation based on the single locus level was detected by markers on chromosomes 9 and 12, while the smallest differentiation was detected by markers on chromosomes 4 and 8. Furthermore, genetic differences at the single-locus and two-locus levels, as well as components due to allelic and gametic differentiation, were revealed between indica and japonica and among the main geographic regions. The multilocus analysis in genetic diversity showed a higher proportion of variation caused by predominant non-random associations of different loci within and among the classified subspecies and geographic subdivisions. The results suggest that selection for eco-geographical adaptation on multilocus associations was largely responsible for the maintenance of the extensive variation in the primary gene pool of rice.

Wild species of rice (genus Oryza) contain many useful genes but a vast majority of these genes remain untapped to date because it is often difficult to transfer these genes into cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.). Chromosome segment substitution lines (CSSLs) and backcross inbred lines (BILs) are powerful tools for identifying these naturally occurring, favorable alleles in unadapted germplasm. In this paper, we present an overview of the research involving CSSLs and BILs in the introgression of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with the improved performance of rice including resistance to various biotic and abiotic stresses, and even high yield from wild relatives of rice and other unadapted germplasm into the genetic background of adapted rice cultivars. The CSSLs can be used to dissect quantitative traits into the component genetic factors and evaluate gene action as single factors (monogenic loci). CSSLs have the potential to uncover new alleles from the unadapted, non-productive wild rice accessions, develop genome-wide genetic stocks, and clone genes identified in QTL studies for functional genomics research. Recent development of high-density singlenucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays in rice and availability of custom-designed medium-and low-density SNP arrays will enhance the CSSL development process with smaller marker-defined segment introgressions from unadapted germplasm.

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Source, sink, and translocation capacity of assimilates play important roles during the formation of grain yield. The present study was conducted to characterize the genetic bases of traits representing source, sink and transport tissue, and their relationships with yield traits in rice, by analyzing QTLs for these traits and various ratios among them. The genetic materials were a recombinant inbred population derived from a cross between two indica cultivars Zhenshan 97 and Minghui 63, the parents of the most-widely grown hybrid rice in China. Using a linkage map that covers a total of 1,796 cM based on 221 molecular marker loci, a total of 81 QTLs were identified for the 15 traits studied (three leaf areas as the source, total spikelets per panicle as the sink, the number of large vascular bundles in the stem as transport tissue, three source to sink ratios, three transport tissue to source ratios, one transport tissue to sink ratio and three yield traits). The amount of variation explained by individual QTLs ranged from 1.12% to 24.14%. Five QTLs were identified to show interaction effects with the environment, which explained from 3.19% to 9.15% of the variation. The results showed that close linkage or pleiotropy is the genetic basis for the correlations of grain yield traits with source, sink, transport tissue and the various ratios among them. Of the 25 QTLs identified for source-sink-transport tissue trait, and 43 for various ratios, 8 and 22 QTLs, respectively, were mapped to the similar genomic blocks harboring QTLs for yield traits, especially for grain weight. Co-location of QTLs for yield traits with those for ratios among source, sink and transport tissue may provide a genetic explanation for the physiological expression of yield traits, and also suggest that improvement in ratios among source, sink and transport tissue may result in improvement in yield potential.

Appropriate heading date and plant height are prerequisites for attaining the desired yield level in rice breeding programs. In this study, we analyzed the genetic bases of heading date and plant height at both single- locus and two-locus levels, using a population of 240 F(2:3) families derived from a cross between two elite rice lines. Measurements for the traits were obtained over 2 years in replicated field trials. A linkage map was constructed with 151 polymorphic marker loci, based on which interval mapping was performed using Mapmaker/QTL. The analyses detected six QTLs for plant height and six QTLs for heading date; collectively the QTLs for heading date accounted for a much greater amount of phenotypic variation than did the QTLs for plant height. Two-way analyses of variance, with all possible two-locus combinations, detected large numbers (from 101 to 257) of significant digenic interactions in the 2 years for both traits involving markers distributed in the entire genome; 22 and 39 were simultaneously detected in both years for plant height and heading date, respectively. Each of the interactions individually accounted for only a very small portion of the phenotypic variation. The majority of the significant interactions involved marker loci that did not detect significant effects by single-locus analyses, and many of the QTLs detected by single-locus analyses were involved in epistatic interactions. The results clearly demonstrated the importance of epistatic interactions in the genetic bases of heading date and plant height.

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