Identification of Molecular Markers for Mesocotyl Elongation in Weedy Rice

In direct-seeding cultivation of rice, the emergence and establishment of seedlings are important for determining the actual yield. These traits depend principally upon elongation of both the mesocotyl and coleoptile. Mesocotyl elongation in rice is controlled by several genetic factors and is also affected by environmental factors. In this study, we mapped QTL for mesocotyl elongation using F 8 lines from a cross between the cultivated rice, Ilpumbyeo and a weedy rice, PBR. One of the Korean weedy rice, PBR showed the long mesocotyl length than that of cultivars, Ilpumebyeo under soil and agar media conditions. This weedy rice showed long mesocotyl than the elite japonica cultivars. After a phenotyping of 150 F 7 lines for mesocotyl length, a subset of 20 lines selected from the two extreme phenotypic tails was used for the bulked segregant analysis. Two QTL were identified on chromosomes 1 and 3. These two QTL were confirmed using 120 F 8 lines. Two QTL, qMel-1 and qMel-3 on chromosomes 1 and 3 accounted for 37.3% and 6.5% of the phenotypic variance, respectively. The PBR alleles were associated with an increase in mesocotyl elongation at both loci. It is noteworthy that two QTL for mesocotyl elongation were colocalized with the QTL for mesocotyl length reported in the previous QTL reports. These QTLs can be introgressed into cultivar background using marker assisted backcrossing in an effort to enhance the level of mesocotyl elongation.