International Journal of Biotechnology Research Vol. 3(3), pp. 045-054, April 2015 ISSN 2328-3505 ©2015 Academe Research Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Marker assisted selection for genetic improvement of drought tolerance in hybrid rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Aziza A. Aboulila

Genetics Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt. E-mail: aa_aboulila@yahoo.com. Tel/Fax: +2-0479102930.

Accepted 13 April, 2015

Abstract

Ten rice cultivars (six CMS lines and four restorers) were used as parents to investigate the effect of mannitol induced drought stress on seedling traits, protein profile and molecular characteristics. Analyses of variance revealed significant differences for all studied traits and genotypes for mannitol levels. It was evident from the data that mannitol levels increased fresh weight linearly and decreased the other traits for most parents. Results of SDS-PAGE showed polymorphic variations among genotypes as well as among mannitol levels. Ten SSR markers associated with drought tolerance QTLs were evaluated for their use in marker assisted selection (MAS). The obtained results reflect the existence of considerable amount of molecular diversities among the tested genotypes. A total of 15 alleles for 10 SSR loci were detected among 34 rice genotypes (10 parents and 24 hybrids). Two specific DNA bands, the first with 100 bp molecular size appearing by RM201 marker and the second with molecular size of 80 bp appearing by RM451 marker, may play an important role in drought response in the used rice genotypes. Results proved also that the CMS parent (G46A) and the restorer parent (IR25571R) were not able to tolerate drought, but the other eight parents appeared as drought tolerant rice genotypes.

Key words: Marker assisted selection, SSR markers, drought tolerance, rice.