LAUSR

BACKGROUND Deficiency of Zn is a major soil constraint in rice plant growth and yield. Study on edaphic factors like Zn deficiency in soil in relation to plant performance is still poorly understood. Here, we have presented promising QTLs conferring tolerance to Zn deficiency which were identified through biparental mapping. The experiment was conducted using 236 F7 RIL mapping population derived from the cross of Kinandang Patong (Zn deficiency sensitive) and A69-1 (Zn deficiency tolerant). RESULTS A total of six QTLs (qLB-2B, qLB-4B, qPM-4B, qPM-6B, qRZC-4B, qSZC-4B) on chromosome 2, 4 and 6 were identified at environment 1, while five QTLs (qLB-2N, qLB-4N, qPM-4N, qRZC-4N, qSZC-4N) on chromosome 2 and 4 were detected in environment 2. Among these, five major (51.30, 48.70, 28.60, 56.00, 52.00 >10 R2 ) and one minor (5.40 <10 R2 ) QTLs at environment 1 and four major (51.48, 50.20, 53.00, 48.00 >10 R2 ) and one minor (4.44 <10) QTLs at environment 2 for Zn deficiency tolerance with Logarithm of Odd (LOD) threshold value higher than 3 were identified. The QTLs (qLB-4B, qPM-4B, qRZC-4B, qSZC-4B, qLB-4N, qPM-4N, qRZC-4N, qSZC-4N) for leaf bronzing, plant mortality root zinc concentration and shoot zinc concentration identified on chromosome 4 were found most promising and highly reproducible across the locations which explained phenotypic variation from 48.00% to 56.00% with the same marker interval RM6748-RM303. CONCLUSION The new QTLs and its linked markers identified in this study can be utilized for Zn deficiency tolerance in elite cultivars using marker-assisted backcrossing. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.