Fine mapping of the qLOP2 and qPSR2-1 loci associated with chilling stress tolerance of wild rice seedlings.

KEY MESSAGE: Using leaf osmotic potential and plant survival rate as chilling-tolerant trait indices, we identified two major quantitative trait loci qLOP2 and qPSR2 - 1 (39.3-kb region) and Os02g0677300 as the cold-inducible gene for these loci. Chilling stress tolerance (CST) at the seedling stage is an important trait affecting rice production in temperate climate and high-altitude areas. To identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with CST, a mapping population consisting of 151 BC(2)F(1) plants was constructed by using chilling-tolerant Dongxiang wild rice (Oryza rufipogon Griff.) as a donor parent and chilling-sensitive indica as a recurrent parent. With leaf osmotic potential (LOP) and plant survival rate (PSR) as chilling-tolerant trait indexes, two major QTLs, qLOP2 (LOD = 3.8) and qPSR2-1 (LOD = 3.3), were detected on the long arm of chromosome 2 by composite interval mapping method in QTL Cartographer software, which explained 10.1 and 12.3% of the phenotypic variation, respectively. In R/QTL analyzed result, their major effects were also confirmed. Using molecular marker RM318 and RM106, qLOP2 and qPSR2-1 have been introgressed into chilling-sensitive varieties (93-11 and Yuefeng) by marker-assisted selection procedure (MAS), which resulted in 16 BC(5)F(3) BILs that chilling tolerance have significantly enhanced compare with wild-type parents (P < 0.01). Therefore, two large segregating populations of 11,326 BC(4)F(2) and 8,642 BC(4)F(3) were developed to fine mapping of qLOP2 and qPSR2-1. Lastly, they were dissected to a 39.3-kb candidate region between marker RM221 and RS8. Expression and sequence analysis results indicated that Os02g0677300 was a cold-inducible gene for these loci. Our study provides novel alleles for improving rice CST by MAS and contributes to the understanding of its molecular mechanisms.