Chakhao(delicious) rice landraces (Oryza sativaL.) of North-east India: collection, conservation and characterization of genetic diversity

Abstract

Rice landraces have been developed through artificial selection imposed by farmers during the long-term domestication process. Although the global rice diversity is well characterized, few studies have conducted an in-depth analysis of genetic diversity on a local scale. In India, there are many locally adapted non-Basmati aromatic rice landraces in which the pace of improvement is slow, despite their high economic values. The aromatic and quality rice landraces of Manipur, locally calledChakhao(delicious), are important, considering their high economic and cultural values. To conserve and encourage improvement of these landraces, we collectedChakhaoaccessions from eight districts of Manipur. The aim of the current study was to investigate the level of genetic diversity and structure of 37Chakhaolandraces based on genotyping with 47 microsatellite markers. The genetic diversity analysis revealed high gene diversity (0.673) within theChakhaopopulation, with values ranging from 0.303 (Poireiton) to 0.471 (mixedChakhao). TheChakhaorice accessions could be divided into six subgroups based on genetic structure analyses. The population structure derived from the STRUCTURE analysis largely correlated with the farmers' classification ofChakhaolandraces. The results of genetic diversity analyses and the indigenous knowledge of the names and use ofChakhaolandraces would facilitate the conservation and utilization of this unique genetic resource.

Diverse Rice Landraces of North-East India Enables the Identification of Novel Genetic Resources for Magnaporthe Resistance

“… Das et al (2013) used 23 SSR markers and distinguished 91 rice lines (which include 83 NE landraces and eight checks) into four subpopulations. Thirty-seven chakhao landraces of NE were also divided into six subgroups based on genetic structure analysis ( Roy et al, 2014 ). The current study grouped 232 accessions based on the maximum membership probability of >80%, into 33 accessions under SG1, 158 accessions under SG2 and 41 accessions as an admixture ( Figure 5 ).…”

“…However, no core set is available exclusively for the NE landraces. Evaluation of genetic diversity among NE Indian germplasm was reported earlier ( Das et al, 2013 ; Roy et al, 2014 , 2015 ) but very few studies exist on the understanding the diversity in relation to the blast resistance ( Ghaley et al, 2012 ; Mahender et al, 2012 ).…”

Anthocyanin content in the black scented rice (Chakhao): its impact on human health and plant defense

“…The study may let understand the public its importance. Recently, there has been only a few studies on the black scented rice of Manipur regarding the germplasms collection, conservation, genetic diversity (Singh and Sharma 1998;Roy et al 2014) and Das et al 2014, reviewed on its potential values. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first and foremost study considering the anthocyanin compositions of the black scented rice of Manipur, India.…”

Heterosis for Grain Yield and its Important Components in Aromatic Rice (Oryza Sativa L.)

“…The yield of the scented rice of Manipur are low and also it covers only less than 10% of the rainfed wetland area under local cultivars (Singh and Baghel, 2003). Basmati types are phylogenetically divergent (Khush et al, 1979) and aromatic rice of Manipurhave high genetic diversity (Roy et al, 2014) therefore hybridization between these diverse germplasm can give hybrid vigour. Hybridity per se did not harm grain quality in terms of physical and chemical characteristics as long as both parents possess acceptable grain quality (Khush et al, 1988)which is important for increasing the yield through exploiting heterosis without affecting the grain quality of scented rice of Manipur and Basmati.…”