Application of a simplified marker-assisted backcross technique for hybrid breeding in rice

Abstract

Hybrid rice has contributed greatly to the self-sufficiency of the food supply in China. However, bacterial blight is a major disease that limits hybrid rice production in China. The study was conducted to develop an efficient breeding technique to improve the bacterial blight resistance in hybrid rice. A marker-assisted backcross breeding technique was adopted to improve HN189, an elite restorer line containing the Pi1 gene. This breeding technique was simplified to foreground selection with only one generation of backcrossing and background selection based on phenotypic selection. A novel bacterial blight resistance gene, Xa23, was introgressed into HN189. Two improved restorer lines, HBH145 (with one generation of backcrossing) and HBH146 (with two generations of backcrossing), were obtained that had a significant bacterial blight resistance advantage over HN189. The corresponding hybrid combination Tianyou H145 (Tianfeng A / HBH145) was certified one year earlier than Qianyou H146 (Qianjiang 1A / HBH146). The use of the marker-assisted backcross breeding technique with one generation of backcrossing and without background selection in rice breeding programs shortened the breeding period of the rice. © 2014 Versita Warsaw and Springer-Verlag Wien.