Introgression of Pi 54 gene through marker assisted backcross breeding for development of blast resistant genetic stocks in rice

Abstract

Blast is the most common biotic stress leading to the reduction of rice yield in many rice-growing areas of the world. Improvement of rice varieties for resistance to blast disease is one of the most important objectives of rice breeding programmes. Present study was undertaken to introgress the broad spectrum resistance gene Pi54 into rice variety K 343 through marker assisted backcross breeding in order to avoid the losses caused by the fungus M. oryzae. Forground selection of 42 BC2F1 plants (K 343*3 /DHMAS) with marker RM 206 led to identification of 30 plants positive for Pi54 gene. Background selection of gene positive BC2F1 plants with polymorphic SSR markers identified three plants (P1, P3, P17) which had recurrent parent genome recovery more than 83 percent and broader similarity with recurrent parent with respect to agro-morphological traits. Screening with PLP-1 strain depicted that these plants showed highly resistant reaction.