Introgression of dual abiotic stress tolerance QTLs (Saltol QTL and Sub1 gene) into Rice (Oryza sativa L.) variety Aiswarya through marker assisted backcross breeding.

Salinity and submergence are two very prominent abiotic stress conditions affecting rice yield adversely in the coastal agro ecosystem. Marker Assisted Backcross Breeding (MABB) is an efficient and fast track molecular tool to incorporate a desired stress tolerant QTL/gene into an improved cultivar. The present study was carried out for the introgression of Saltol QTL responsible for salinity tolerance and Sub1 gene responsible for submergence tolerance into the high yielding rice variety Aiswarya independently through MABB. Final objective of the study is to develop dual stress tolerant (tolerance to salinity and submergence) Aiswarya rice variety by pyramiding the both target QTLs introgressed BC2F2 progenies having maximum background homozygosity. The donors of Saltol QTL and Sub1 gene used in the present study were FL478 and Swarna Sub1, respectively. Based on the background genome analysis of the introgressed plants, the plants with > 85-90% background similarity were selected for pyramiding of Saltol QTL and Sub1 gene into the elite background of rice variety Aiswarya. Those selected introgressed lines with Saltol QTL and Sub1 gene will be again crossed to pyramid both Saltol QTL and Sub1 gene into the rice variety Aiswarya. Such a mega rice variety pyramided with dual stress tolerant QTLs is the expected outcome of this study and can be recommended for cultivation in the flood prone saline coastal agroecosystem. © Prof. H.S. Srivastava Foundation for Science and Society 2021.