Pyramiding of Four Broad Spectrum Bacterial Blight Resistance Genes in Cross Breeds of Basmati Rice

Irfan Ullah; Hamid Ali; Tariq Mahmood; Mudassar Nawaz Khan; Muhammad Haris; Hussain Shah; Adil Mihoub; Aftab Jamal; Muhammad Farhan Saeed; Roberto Mancinelli; Emanuele Radicetti

doi:10.3390/plants12010046

Pyramiding of Four Broad Spectrum Bacterial Blight Resistance Genes in Cross Breeds of Basmati Rice

Plants (Basel). 2022 Dec 22;12(1):46. doi: 10.3390/plants12010046.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Hazara University Mansehra, Mansehra 21300, Pakistan.
² Department of Agriculture, Hazara University Mansehra, Mansehra 21300, Pakistan.
³ Plant Sciences Division, Pakistan Agricultural Research Council Islamabad, Islamabad 45500, Pakistan.
⁴ Center for Scientific and Technical Research on Arid Regions, Biophysical Environment Station, Toug-gourt 30240, Algeria.
⁵ Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Crop Production Sciences, The University of Agriculture, Peshawar 25130, Pakistan.
⁶ Department of Environmental Sciences, Vehari-Campus, COMSATS University Islamabad, Vehari 61100, Pakistan.
⁷ Department of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences (DAFNE), University of Tuscia, 01100 Viterbo, Italy.
⁸ Department of Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Agricultural Sciences (DOCPAS), University of Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy.

Abstract

Pyramiding of major resistance (R) genes through marker-assisted selection (MAS) is a useful way to attain durable and broad-spectrum resistance against Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae pathogen, the causal agent of bacterial blight (BB) disease in rice (Oryza sativa L.). The present study was designed to pyramid four broad spectrum BB-R genes (Xa4, xa5, xa13 and Xa21) in the background of Basmati-385, an indica rice cultivar with much sought-after qualitative and quantitative grain traits. The cultivar, however, is susceptible to BB and was therefore, crossed with IRBB59 which possesses R genes xa5, xa13 and Xa21, to attain broad and durable resistance. A total of 19 F1 plants were obtained, some of which were backcrossed with Basmati-385 and large number of BC1F1 plants were obtained. In BC1F2 generation, 31 phenotypically superior genotypes having morphological features of Basmati-385, were selected and advanced up to BC1F6 population. Sequence-tagged site (STS)-based MAS was carried out and phenotypic selection was made in each successive generation. In BC1F6 population, potentially homozygous recombinant inbred lines (RILs) from each line were selected and evaluated on the bases of STS evaluation and resistance to local Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) isolates. Line 23 was found pyramided with all four BB-R genes i.e., Xa4, xa5, xa13 and Xa21. Five genotypes including line 8, line 16, line 21, line 27 and line 28 were identified as pyramided with three R genes, Xa4, xa5 and xa13. Pathological study showed that rice lines pyramided with quadruplet or triplet R genes showed the highest level of resistance compared to doublet or singlet R genes. Thus, line 23 with quadruplet, and lines 8, 16, 21, 27, and 28 with triplet R genes, are recommended for replicated yield and resistance trials before release as new rice varieties. Further, traditional breeding coupled with MAS, is a solid way to attain highly effective BB-resistant rice lines with no yield cost.

Keywords: Basmati-385; Oryza sativa; bacterial blight; pyramiding; recombinant inbred lines; response.

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.