AUTHOR=Zhong Hua , Liu Shuai , Zhao Gangqing , Zhang Chenhao , Peng Zhaohua , Wang Zhaohai , Yang Jing , Li Yangsheng 

TITLE=Genetic Diversity Relationship Between Grain Quality and Appearance in Rice

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2021.708996

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2021.708996

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=Grain quality is an important breeding objective in rice, and the grain's appearances also affect the commercial value in the market. This study was aimed to decode the rice grain qualities and appearances, including gelatinization temperature (GT), amylose content (AC), grain protein content (GPC), pericarp color (PC), length-width ratio (LWR), and grain volume (GV) at phenotypic and genetic levels, as well as the relationships among them. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) was used to identify the QTLs associated with the target traits using MLM and BLINK methods. In general, AC was negatively correlated to GPC and GV, while positively correlated to LWR and PC. GPC was positively related to LWR. Using the RDP1 population, we identified eleven, six, two, seven, eleven, and six QTLs associated with GT, AC, GPC, PC, LWR, and GV, respectively. Five germplasm lines superior in grain qualities and appearances for basic breeding materials or improvement were identified. Notably, an F-box gene OsFbox394 was located in the LD block of qLWR7-2, which specifically expresses in endosperm and seed tissues, suggesting this gene may regulate seed development in rice grain. Besides, different haplotypes of OsHyPRP45 showed significant differences in AC, indicating this gene may be related to AC in rice grain.