Marker-assisted pseudo-backcrossing for developing climate-resilient rice.

The increased prevalence of abiotic stresses, such as salt, submergence, and drought, severely affects rice productivity. Developing a rice variety, with inbuilt resistance to these main abiotic stresses, will contribute to a long-term rise in rice yield in adverse environments. In the present study, the rice variety Improved White Ponni (IWP) a high-yielding but highly susceptible to drought, salinity, and submergence variety was introgressed with Sub1 + SalT + DTY2.

Molecular and physiological characterization of early semi-dwarf mutants of rice and localization of SNP variants in Sd1 locus generated through gamma radiation.

Purpose: The 'Improved White Ponni' (IWP) rice variety, which is susceptible to lodging, leading to yield losses. Our primary goal is to develop new rice lines with non-lodging traits, enhancing stem strength and resistance to adverse conditions. Additionally, we aim to improve yield-contributing agronomic traits, benefiting farmers, food security, and the environment.

Genetic manipulation of anti-nutritional factors in major crops for a sustainable diet in future.

The consumption of healthy food, in order to strengthen the immune system, is now a major focus of people worldwide and is essential to tackle the emerging pandemic concerns. Moreover, research in this area paves the way for diversification of human diets by incorporating underutilized crops which are highly nutritious and climate-resilient in nature. However, although the consumption of healthy foods increases nutritional uptake, the bioavailability of nutrients and their absorption from foods also play an essential role in curbing malnutrition in developing countries.

Loss of Function of and in Rice Promotes Early Maturing and Semi-Dwarfism in γ-Irradiated IWP and Genome-Edited Pusa Basmati-1.

Targeted mutagenesis is now becoming the most favored methodology to improve traits in popular rice cultivars selectively. Understanding the genetic basis of already available mutants could be the first step in designing such experiment. Improved White Ponni (IWP), a popularly grown South Indian rice variety, was subjected to γ irradiation to develop WP-22-2, an M line superior in semi-dwarfism, early flowering, and high yield, and it has grain qualities similar to those of IWP.

Superior haplotypes towards development of low glycemic index rice with preferred grain and cooking quality.

Increasing trends in the occurrence of diabetes underline the need to develop low glycemic index (GI) rice with preferred grain quality. In the current study, a diverse set of 3 K sub-panel of rice consisting of 150 accessions was evaluated for resistant starch and predicted glycemic index, including nine other quality traits under transplanted situation. Significant variations were noticed among the accessions for the traits evaluated.

Marker Assisted Forward Breeding to Combine Multiple Biotic-Abiotic Stress Resistance/Tolerance in Rice.

Background: Unfavorable climatic changes have led to an increased threat of several biotic and abiotic stresses over the past few years. Looking at the massive damage caused by these stresses, we undertook a study to develop high yielding climate-resilient rice, using genes conferring resistance against blast (Pi9), bacterial leaf blight (BLB) (Xa4, xa5, xa13, Xa21), brown planthopper (BPH) (Bph3, Bph17), gall midge (GM) (Gm4, Gm8) and QTLs for drought tolerance (qDTY and qDTY) through marker-assisted forward breeding (MAFB) approach.

Result: Seven introgression lines (ILs) possessing a combination of seven to ten genes/QTLs for different biotic and abiotic stresses have been developed using marker-assisted selection (MAS) breeding method in the background of Swarna with drought QTLs.