Enrinchment of Iron and Zinc Concentration in Introgression Lines of Brown Rice

In the present study, 128 lines of BC₄F₄ population derived from the backcross between an indica cultivar, Samba Mahsuri and wild rice, O.rufipogon were measured for high iron and zinc concentration with the help of Atomic Absorption Spectophotometry (AAS). The iron and zinc concentration of 128 rice lines ranged from 6.4 to 106.6 ìg g⁻¹ and 15.5 to 52.05 ìg g⁻¹ respectively. The top ten lines had high iron concentration ranging from 24 to 106.6 ìg g⁻¹ and that of zinc concentration ranged from 31.5 to 52.05 ìg g⁻¹. The lines that had high iron concentration also had the high zinc concentration but the lines with high zinc concentration did not have high iron levels. In case of iron concentration the maximum number of lines i.e. 81% were falling in between the range 13 to 24 ìg g⁻¹. In case of zinc concentration majority (53%) of lines were falling in between the range 26 to 30 ìg g⁻¹ and 30% were falling in between the range 21 to 25 ìg g⁻¹. All the top ten lines with high iron concentration (24 to 106.6 ìg g⁻¹) had iron concentration more than O.rufipogon (21.2 ìg g⁻¹). The top ten lines with high zinc concentration (31.5 to 52.05) exhibited either slightly lower or slightly higher zinc concentration than O.rufipogon (45.3 ìg g⁻¹). These results clearly indicated the favourable effect of the introgressed genetic variability from the wild rice (O.rufipogon).