QTL mapping and identification of candidate genes for cold tolerance at the germination stage in wild rice.

Background: Cold damage stress significantly affects rice growth (germination and seedling) and causes serious losses in yield in temperate and high-altitude areas around the globe.

Objective: This study aimed to explore the cold tolerance (CT) locus of rice and create new cold-tolerant germplasm. We constructed a chromosome segment substitution line (CSSL) with strong CT and fine mapped quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with CT by performing the whole-genome resequencing of CSSL with phenotypes under cold treatment.