Analysis of High-Resolution QTL Markers Associated with Rice Yields Using Data for Two Consecutive Years in Different Environmental Conditions

Abstract

Previously we reported the identification of seven quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with the rice yield measuring five parameters including panicles per plant (PPP), spikelets per panicle (SPP), seed set percentage (SSP), 1000-grain weight (TGW) and yield in 2012. Here we report the analysis of QTLs using the same trait parameters data of the mapping population in 2013 for detecting highly conserved QTL markers. A total of 6 QTLs were identified from chromosomes 1, 7, 8, 10, 11, and 12, which were contrasted with our previous results (chromosomes 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 11). In this comparison, three QTLs from chromosome 1, 8, and 11 were only found to be associated with the components of yield over two consecutive years indicating high sensitivity of QTL markers to the environment. Of those three QTLs, SPP-associated marker RM12285 was found to be dominantly expressed by real-time PCR (qPCR).