Location: Crops Pathology and Genetics Research
Project Number: 2032-21000-027-005-T
Project Type: Trust Fund Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Jan 1, 2024
End Date: Dec 31, 2024
Objective:
Research will be conducted on the identification and characterization of rice plants with novel productivity and grain quality traits by developing and screening populations of rice mutants, determining the molecular genetic basis for any novel traits identified in those populations, and making germplasm available through ARS rice gene banks. Specific objectives include: 1) Mutant population development and phenotyping by remote sensing; 2) Screening remnant mutant populations for herbicide resistance.
Approach:
Objective 1: Mutants from two populations (Kitaake and Sabine) will be grown in the UC Davis Plant Sciences Row Crop Facility for generation advance, seed production, and agronomic trait evaluation. In Objective 1, the most advanced generation of each of three mutant populations will be used (M8/9 for Kitaake, and M4/5 for Sabine). Three to five hundred lines from each population (single rows, 9-12 feet long with 5 ft. spacing between rows and 3-5 ft. spacing/alleys between row tiers) will be planted by direct seeding or transplanting using a paper pot system using an augmented randomized complete block design. Evaluation of agronomic performance related traits will be conducted. Lines will be evaluated for traits such as height, tillering, heading date, and panicle structure. Seeds will be harvested to serve as a long-term seed source for trait evaluation including further generation advance and field testing. Remote sensing using a small, unmanned aircraft system will be employed to collect multispectral data, which will be used in conjunction with conventional phenotyping to develop and validate methods for more efficient, accurate, and detailed evaluation of rice plants in the field. In addition to mutant populations, remote sensing will be performed on germplasm populations located at the Rice Experiment Station (RES) and RES rice varieties will also be grown at the UC Davis Facility for imaging analyses. The collected imaging data will be used in conjunction with trait evaluations performed by RES researchers to develop and validate remote sensing-based phenotyping.
Objective 2: Remnant mutant populations that were generated in previous projects will be planted in the field and sprayed with herbicide (e.g., clethodim, clomazone) to screen for resistant mutants. Putative mutants will be grown to maturity to collect seeds for re-testing in the future. Infertile plants may be transferred to the greenhouse and crossed with wild type plants to try to recover fertile lines for future re-testing.
