1Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University, Rajendranagar, Andhra Pradesh - 500 030, India
2Directorate of Rice Research, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh - 500 030, India
Online published on 24 December, 2014.
Rice is an indispensable staple food for half of the world's population. However it is deficient in many essential micronutrients such as iron and zinc. Recent efforts to improve the mineral nutrition in rice grain include selecting for germplasm with greater quantities of essential minerals with the help of molecular breeding tools. Jalamagna an aromatic, lodging resistant variety with higher concentrations of iron and zinc in its grains was crossed to a high yielding local variety Swarna which has got less concentration of micronutrients. The cross resulted in production of 126 breeding lines/Recombinant Inbred Lines (RILs). Parental polymorphism was conducted with the aid of Polymerase Chain Reaction. Among 400 Rice Microsatellite primers used, 90 (22.5%) were polymorphic and among 71 gene specific markers only 13 (18.3%) were polymorphic. These markers were used for screening RIL population and the data obtained will support in mapping Quantitative Trait Loci (QTLs) associated to high Fe and Zinc concentration.
Jalamagna, Swarna, Recombinant Inbred Lines, Polymorphism, Rice Microsatellites
