Genetic Determinants of Weed Control in Rice (Oryza sativa L.) using allelopathy approach

Authors: SELIM, MAHMOUD - Agricultural Research Center Of Egypt; ELSHAMEY, ESSAM - Agricultural Research Center Of Egypt; ELKHOLY, NEAMA - Agricultural Research Center Of Egypt; ABDELRAHMAN, MOHAMED - Agricultural Research Center Of Egypt; ABO-MARZOKA, ELSAYED - Agricultural Research Center Of Egypt; ELGAMAL, WALID - Agricultural Research Center Of Egypt; ELSAYED, MAHMOUD - Agricultural Research Center Of Egypt; ATTIA, KOTB - King Saud University; GHAZY, ABDEL-HALIM - King Saud University; Abdel-Haleem, Hussein

Submitted to: Cereal Research Communications
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/16/2024
Publication Date: 3/14/2024
Citation: Selim, M.E., Elshamey, E.E., Elkholy, N.A., Abdelrahman, M., Abo-Marzoka, E.A., Elgamal, W.H., Elsayed, M.A., Attia, K.A., Ghazy, A., Abdel-Haleem, H.A. 2024. Genetic Determinants of Weed Control in Rice (Oryza sativa L.) using allelopathy approach. Cereal Research Communications. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42976-024-00506-6.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42976-024-00506-6

Interpretive Summary: Weeds are one of the biotic stresses that could reduce the productivity of economical crops. Besides being costly, weed control through herbicide increases environmental contamination and pollution hazards. Allelopathy, where crop plants release chemical suppresses weed growth, could be one of the plants' strategies to control weeds. Allelopathic effects observed in some of the rice hybrids highlight the importance of careful selection of parental plants to minimize any negative effects on plant growth and development. Based on the variations among hybrid for their allopathic activity, specific crosses can be potential candidates for rice breeding programs aimed at improving grain yield under intense weed growing conditions. These findings could have increase developing cultivars with higher allelopathic activity to resist weed stress.

Technical Abstract: Weed management through herbicide is costing economically and environmentally. Developing of improved weed suppressive rice genotypes is one of the ultimate goals of rice breeders for sustainable cultivation. In the current investigation we evaluated the weed-suppressive potential of different rice genotypes and the genetic behind transmitting this ability to their progeny. To achieve this goal, a half diallel mating system was designed and conducted to generate F1 hybrids from 6 genotypes. Among these genotypes a previously developed allelopathic resistant pre-breeding advanced lines. The F1 crosses along with their parents were cultivated under weed stress and normal field condition during the 2022 summer growing season. Several vegetative, allelopathic, yield and physio-biochemical traits were studied. The results indicating that the crosses AL1/Sakha Super 300 and AL2/Sakha Super 300 have the highest yield under weed-stress condition. AL1, AL2 and Sakha Super 300have the highest general combing ability for yield and allelopathic characters under weed stress. Furthermore, the cross AL2/Sakha Super 300 ranked the highest based on the stress tolerance indices. High positive correlation was detected between grain yield and the most studied physio-biochemical characteristics. This investigation provides evidence of the potential of enhancing the allelopathic activity of rice crop through precise selection of parental genotypes.