Evaluation of seed characteristics of selected rice lines in arkansas

Rice grain dimension and weight are two critical factors for marketing and increasing yield capacity. Seed shape is measured by its length, width, thickness, and ratio of length–width. In this study, an experiment was conducted in a controlled condition from fall 2017 to 2020 to identify QTL and candidate genes associated with seed dimension and weight using a bi-parental population resulting from two University of Arkansas developed genotypes: a restorer line 367R and an advanced breeding line RU1501139, in Stuttgart, Arkansas. Five seed dimension traits, including seed length, seed width, seed thickness, seed length–width ratio, and 100-seeds weight, were obtained for QTL detection. The study detected a total of 17 QTL, including 4, 2, 3, and 8 QTL correlated with seed length, length–width ratio, thickness, and weight, respectively. Seed length correlated QTL were positioned on chr. 3, 7, and 11 while Length–width ratio associated QTL were located on chr. 3, and 7. On the other hand, thickness correlated QTL were identified one chr. 5, 6, and 8, and Seed weight associated QTLs were detected on chr. 1, 3, 10, and 12. Of 17 QTL, four QTL originated from RU1501139, while the origin of the other 13 QTL was 367R. Since multiple genes could control the yield and seed physical characteristics, the detected QTL can play a role in introducing superior parental lines for developing conventional and hybrid rice production.