Identification of Quantitative Trait Loci for Fatty Acid Content in Brown Rice (Oryza sativa L.)

The rice bran oil contained in brown rice is composed of highly valued ingredient. Improving the content of unsaturated fatty acids in rice seed, such as oleic acid, linoleic acid, and α-linolenic acid, would provide more benefit to human health. Fatty acid content is quantitative trait controlled by multiple genes. We have utilized high-density SNP data from highly advanced breeding populations to identify QTLs for fatty acid contents in brown rice. Here, we identified 51 major QTLs (M-QTLs) and 25 epistatic QTLs (EpQTLs) related to eleven fatty acid contents. Eight and four M-QTLs were pleiotropically associated with the content of different fatty acids in MT-RILs and DT-RILs, respectively. Total effect of M-QTLs for palmitic acid (16:0), oleic acid (18:1), and linoleic acid (18:2), could explain phenotypic variations of 36.7%, 63.7%, and 41% in MT-RILs, respectively. Alpha-linolenic acid which is important for a human’s health could be explained phenotypic variation of 15.7% by six M-QTLs. These QTLs identified in this study can be used to improve nutritious content in rice breeding programs.