Genetic resources

SKAU7A and SKAU11A: new cold-tolerant CMS lines from Kashmir, India
G.S. Sanghera,* A.M. Husaini, A.G. Rather, G.A. Parray, and A.B. Shikari Rice Research and Regional Station (RR&RS), Khudwani, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST) of Kashmir, Jammu, & Kashmir 192102, India E-mail: g_singh72@rediffmail.com

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a staple food of the Kashmir Valley and is cultivated within an altitude range of 1,5001,800 m above mean sea level. The advent of semidwarf high- yielding varieties in the region during the last two and half decades has revolutionized rice production. However, because of limited genetic resources, rice productivity under temperate conditions appears to have reached a yield plateau. Alternative strategies are thus needed to enhance production and productivity under these conditions. Hybrid rice technology in China (Lin and Yuan 1980) was shown to be an attractive way to break the yield plateau and boost rice production in such fragile environments. The potential of this technology has also been proven under tropical and subtropical conditions in India (Mishra 2009). In view of the potential of this technology, a hybrid rice program started at SKUAST (K)RR&RS, Khudwani, after procuring cytoplasmic male sterile (CMS) lines and their maintainers from various institutions such as the International Rice Research Institute (Philippines), Directorate of Rice Research (Hyderabad), Central Rice Research Institute (Cuttack), and Punjab Agricultural University (Ludhiana). Initial studies on the performance of these CMS and maintainer lines (of tropical and subtropical regions) for various agromorphological traits under temperate conditions of Kashmir (at RR&RS, Khudwani) revealed that these lines, because of poor phenotypic acceptability, cannot be used to develop experimental hybrids (Sanghera et al 2003). In addition, a good number of hybrids released in India were also evaluated along with their parental lines under temperate conditions and were found to be not suitable for cultivation in such an environment (unpubl. data). Thus, efforts were made to develop new CMS lines in the background of agronomically adapted and popular varieties of the region in order to fully exploit this technology. Attempts were made to develop test crosses using CMS lines IR68888A and IR68897A to identify restorers and maintainers under local conditions. K348, a medium-duration, cold-tolerant variety maintained at the Khudwani RR&RS, showed 100% pollen and spikelet sterility when test-crossed with these CMS lines at flowering and maturity, respectively. A number of backcrosses were performed using K348 (which was an outcome of a complex

International Rice Research Notes (0117-4185)

2010

Genetic resources
cross involving three parents and which showed variations due to segregation of residual heterozygosity) as a recurrent parent; advanced generation CMS lines were identified through substitution backcrossing. After six generations of backcrossing, two new CMS linesSKAU7A (IR68888A/K348) and SKAU11A (IR68897A/K348)with distinct agromorphological and floral characteristics were developed (Tables 1 and 2). The differences in the newly synthesized CMS lines might be attributed to the interaction between the cytoplasm-enforcing genome and the recipient genome. Since exploitation of hybrid vigor in rice depends on selecting suitable parental lines for a specific location, use of these newly developed CMS lines opens new avenues for the development of medium bold rice hybrids with good grain quality in temperate areas in India in general and in Kashmir in particular.

References
Lin SC, Yuan LP. 1980. Hybrid rice breeding in China. In: Innovative approaches to rice breeding. Manila (Philippines): International Rice Research Institute. p 35-51. Mishra B. 2009. Advances in rice and wheat research for food and national security. In: Proceedings of the 9th Agricultural Science Congress at SKUAST (K)-Shalimar, Srinagar, 22-24 June 2009. p 116-129. Sanghera GS, Ahmed N, Zargar MA, Rather MA. 2003. Studies on the performance of some rice CMS lines under temperate conditions of Kashmir. SKUAST J. Res. 5:121-124.

International Rice Research Notes (0117-4185)

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Genetic resources
Table 1. Agromorphological characteristics of SKAU7A and SKAU11A.
Characteristic Early plant vigor Basal leaf sheath Leaf blade color Leaf pubescence Leaf length (cm) Leaf width (mm) Stem color Ligule shape Plant height (cm) Panicle length (cm) Panicle type Grain length-breadth ratio Aroma Apiculus color Stigma color Panicle exsertion Culm strength Panicle threshability SKAU7A Good Purple Purple margins Intermediate 27 1.3 Green 2-cleft 105 23 Intermediate 2.2 Absent Purple Purple Moderately well-exserted Moderately strong Easy SKAU11A Good Purple Purple margins Intermediate 31 1.2 Green 2-cleft 110 26 Intermediate 2.3 Absent Purple Light purple Moderately well-exserted Moderately strong Easy

Table 2. Floral characteristics of SKAU7A, SKAU11A, and their parental lines, Rice Research and Regional Station, Khudwani.a
Characteristic Productive tillers plant-1 (no.) Flag-leaf angle (degrees) Days to 50% flowering Spikelets panicle-1 (no.) 100-seed weight (g) Days to maturity Duration of open floret (min) Angle of open floret (degree) Ovary length (mm) Style length (mm) Stigma length (mm) Pistil length (mm) Anther length (mm) Filament length (mm) Pollen sterility (%) Panicle exsertion (%)
a

SKAU7A 11.45 1.65 18.92 1.78 98 141.12 10.10 2.50 0.26 137 95.64 4.50 29. 45 0.60 0.54 0.05 0.53 0.04 1.65 0.13 2.72 0.23 1.94 0.14 7.70 0.50 100 79.93 2.95

SKAU11A 10.75 0.95 20.76 2.01 97 121.45 8.43 2.51 0.30 140 88.76 5.91 28.76 0.75 0.58 0.07 0.51 0.03 1.56 0.10 2.65 0.31 1.82 0.19 7.75 0.45 100 74.09 3.50

K348 16.35 2.25 23.90 2.25 100 144.87 10.56 2.56 0.28 133 92.45 5.52 27.98 0.65 0.56 0.06 0.52 0.05 1.62 0.15 2.68 0.28 2.08 0.21 7.70 0.55 2.65 0.45 85.88 3.75

IR68888A 8.00 1.30 12.70 1.15 115 111.23 6.78 2.40 0.24 153 91.08 6.32 25.86 0.54 0.50 0.03 0.45 0.03 1.31 0.12 2.60 0.32 1.79 0.23 7.22 0.35 98.95 0.21 70.33 4.56

IR68897A 9.00 1.25 13.00 1.35 112 119.09 7.90 2.60 0.27 148 89.90 5.80 30.55 0.45 0.52 0.06 0.48 0.04 1.45 0.16 2.50 0.26 2.10 0.21 7.04 0.40 99.00 0.10 65.49 5.02

The values were averaged for five replicates standard deviation, except for days to flowering and maturity.

International Rice Research Notes (0117-4185)

2010