Appraisal of Gobindabhog type PHO2 allele for phosphorous deficiency tolerance in rice under West Bengal condition

Abstract

An aromatic Bengal landrace, Gobindabhog is a registered phosphorous (P) deficiency tolerant genotype which is able to accumulate P nearly 27 mg/plant even if available P in soil is low. On the contrary a popular cultivar of Bengal, Shatabdi accumulates only 6 mg/plant when grown in a P deficient soil. Phosphate Over accumulator 2 (PHO2) gene of rice is a key determinant for maintaining the P homeostasis in the plant body in P fluctuating condition. Relative abundance of PHO2 transcript in roots of 15 days old seeding of Gobindabhog was significantly higher than that of Shatabdi. In order to assess the efficiency of PHO2 allele of Gobindabhog, Recombinant inbred lines (RILs) were developed by crossing between Gobindabhog, a P deficiency tolerant genotype with a P deficiency susceptible variety, Shatabdi. RM19080, a SSR marker linked to PHO2, has been used for genotyping of the RIL population. The two sets of RILs carrying Gobindabhog type and Shatabdi type PHO2 allele grown in P-deficient soil were used to quantify P-accumulation in the shoot at the pre-flowering stage and yield attributing parameters during maturity. Single Point ANOVA suggests that PHO2 allele of Gobindabhog and its linked marker SSR RM19080 have no association with P-deficiency tolerance in rice. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the role of the PHO2 allele from the donor parent before considering it for MAS.