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QTL mapping for nitrogen-use efficiency and nitrogen-deficiency tolerance traits in rice

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Abstract

Aims

The improvement of nitrogen-deficiency tolerance (NDT) and nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE) traits is an important objective of many rice breeding programs. A better understanding of their relationship is required for more efficient breeding. The objectives of this study were to map quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for NDT and NUE traits, and to gain a better understanding about the genetic basis of the relationships between NUE and NDT traits.

Methods

127 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) deriving from the cross of Zhenshan97/Minghui63 were tested in field conditions with low nitrogen (LN, 0 kg/ha) and normal nitrogen conditions (NN, 135 kg/ha in 2006 and 130 kg/ha in 2007). NDT traits were the ratio of a trait value under LN to NN, including grain yield, biomass yield, grain nitrogen and biomass nitrogen. NUE traits were nitrogen response, grain yield response and physiological nitrogen-use efficiency (PE).

Results

For NDT traits, seven and eight QTLs were identified in 2006 and 2007, respectively. These QTLs were on chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10 and 11. For NUE traits, five and six QTLs were detected on chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10 and 11 in 2006 and 2007, respectively. Four genomic regions, including G393-C922 on chromosome 1, RM232-C63 on chromosome 3, G235-G102 on chromosome 4 and RG678-R1440 on chromosome 7, were found to contain QTLs for NDT and NUE traits. NUE traits significantly negatively correlated with NDT traits in the two testing years, except for the correlations between physiological nitrogen-use efficiency and relative biomass nitrogen.

Conclusion

The four QTL clusters harboring QTLs for both NDT and NUE traits, provides partial explanation and genetic mechanism for the observed correlations between NDT and NUE traits, and could be used as targets for improving NDT and NUE traits in future breeding.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to anonymous reviewers for many critical comments and suggestions on the manuscript. We thank professors Xing Yongzhong and Yu Sibin, and National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, for providing seeds and marker data for the recombinant inbred lines used in the study. This work was jointly supported by the National Special Program for Research of Transgenic Plant of China (2009ZX8009-007B) and 948 program from MOA (No. 2010-S13).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, MOA Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology, Ecology and Cultivation (The Middle Reaches of Yangtze River), College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430070, China

    Dong Wei, Kehui Cui, Junfeng Pan, Jing Xiang, Jianliang Huang & Lixiao Nie

  2. International Rice Research Institute, DAPO Box 7777, Metro Manila, Philippines

    Guoyou Ye

  3. Rice Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Science, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    Junfeng Pan

  4. China National Rice Research Institute, Hangzhou, 310006, China

    Jing Xiang

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  1. Dong Wei
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  2. Kehui Cui
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  3. Guoyou Ye
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  4. Junfeng Pan
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  5. Jing Xiang
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  7. Lixiao Nie
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Correspondence to Kehui Cui.

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Responsible Editor: Martin Weih.

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Wei, D., Cui, K., Ye, G. et al. QTL mapping for nitrogen-use efficiency and nitrogen-deficiency tolerance traits in rice. Plant Soil 359, 281–295 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-012-1142-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-012-1142-6

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