Enhancement of yield through marker-assisted pyramiding of yield contributing genes in rice (Oryza sativa L.) var. BPT5204

Enhancement of rice yield is a primary objective for the breeders to secure food supply to the ever-growing population. The present study aimed to enhance the rice yield by the harmonious assembling of genes governing key yield component traits i.e., GS3, GS5, and qsw5 from MTU3626 and LP1 from NLR33892 into a common background variety, BPT5204 through marker-assisted gene pyramiding. Towards this, two independent crosses i.e., BPT5204/MTU3626 and BPT5204/NLR33892 were generated and then backcrossed with BPT5204 to generate BC1F1, BC1F22, and BC11F33 generations. BC11F3 plants were screened with gene-specific markers and plants with different combinations of yield contributing genes were selected. Selected BC11F3 plants of two crosses were intercrossed to generate inter-cross F1 (ICF11) and further selfed to generate ICF22 progeny. We developed 12 gene intercrossed lines (ICLs) with different combinations of yield contributing genes ranging from 2 to 4 genes. The field evaluation of these ICLs in two environments revealed a maximum yield advantage of one ICL i.e., ICL12 with a four-gene combination showing a maximum of 50.6% and 22% in Nellore and Tirupati, respectively over the best high-yielding check. We also observed that the LP1 gene combined with other yield genes has exhibited more grain yield compared to other gene combinations. These ICLs could be of great value as donors in rice breeding and can also be released as varieties after rigorous field trials. Here, we demonstrated that marker-assisted gene pyramiding is an excellent approach to enhance rice yield.