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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stuttgart, Arkansas » Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #106860
Title: UTILIZING RICE GERMPLASM COLLECTIONS IN DEVELOPING BREEDING STRATEGIES

Author
item Dilday, Robert
item MOLDENHAUER, KAREN - UA RREC
item GIBBONS, JAMES - UA RREC
item Yan, Wengui

Submitted to: Temperate Rice Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/13/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: The USDA-ARS rice germplasm collection has not been thoroughly evaluated and 'gaps' exist within the collection. The research was conducted to fill many of the gaps and obtain data on the 31 characteristics that are evaluated for each accession that is in the collection. The data showed that amylose contents ranged from 0.0 to 53.0%, days from emergence to flowering (37 to 219 days), kernel length (3.0 to 9.9 mm), kernel length/width ratio (1.0 to 8.0), plant height (41 to 208 cm), protein content (1.7 to 13.6%), salt tolerance rating (0.0 to 5.6), straighthead rating (3.0 to 9.0) and kernel weight (6.9 to 46.0 g). These data demonstrate how diverse the rice germplasm collection is and the results will allow plant breeders and other scientists to genetically manipulate the existing germplasm in variety development programs.

Technical Abstract: The USDA-ARS rice germplasm working collection contains 17,279 accessions from 110 countries or regions. Data for more than 30 different descriptors have been collected and are part of the germplasm resources information network (GRIN). Some of the descriptors include allelopathy, amylose content, days from emergence to flowering, disease resistance, grain type, herbicide tolerance, kernel length, kernel weight, lodging, plant height, salt tolerance, yield, etc. A broad range of genetic variability is present in GRIN for each descriptor. For example, amylose content ranges from 0.0 to 53.0%, days from emergence to flowering (37 to 219 days), kernel length (3.0 to 9.9 mm), kernel length/width ratio (1.0 to 8.0), plant height (41 to 208 cm), protein content (1.7 to 13.6%), salt tolerance rating (0.0 to 5.6), straighthead rating (3.0 to 9.0) and 1,000 kernel weight (6.9 to 46.0 g). Some accessions are tolerant to non-selective herbicides such as glyphosate and sulfosate while other accessions apparently are allelopathic to weed species such as ducksalad (Heteranthera limosa) and barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli).