PI: Georgia C. Eizenga (University of Arkansas/USDA-ARS Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center)
CoPI: Paulino L. Sanchez (University of Arizona)
Key Collaborator: Mathias Lorieux [International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Colombia]
West African cultivated rice (Oryza glaberrima) and its progenitor species, O. barthii, are a source of several traits important in crop improvement including pest resistance, drought tolerance, seedling vigor, weed competition, tolerance to toxic soils, grain quality and grain yield. To expand the impact of the advances being made in rice molecular genetics, rice seed stocks need to be developed for translational genomics efforts in the background of Asian rice (O. sativa) cultivars adapted to the USA. This RAPID project will generate critically needed genotyped genetic stocks that include both backcross inbred lines (BILs) and advanced backcross (ABC) mapping populations using three selected accessions of both O. glaberrima and O. barthii as the donor parent with US rice cultivars LaGrue and M-202. These seed stocks will also serve as a resource for rice breeders to incorporate the abiotic and biotic stress resistance found in O. glaberrima and O. barthii. into their advanced breeding lines. All seed stocks will be distributed through the USDA-ARS Genetic Stocks - Oryza (GSOR) Collection (Stuttgart, AR). All genotypic information will be available on-line through the AGI web site (www.genome.arizona.edu).
Beyond the impact of the resources generated, the project will provide training for a post-doctoral researcher who will be mentored in all aspects of managing a collaborative research project. To encourage the next generation of plant scientists and breeders, the project will participate in existing outreach programs at the Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center and the University of Arkansas Rice Research and Extension Center. Finally, the project will also participate in the University of Arizona Undergraduate Biology Research Program (UBRP) which has links to statewide Community Colleges and targets funds for minorities. The project will also benefit from a collaboration with the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) that will develop genetic stocks with O. glaberrima and O. barthii in the background of South American rice cultivars.
There are a very limited number of "molecular genetic tools" available in cultivated rice (Oryza sativa) that can be used to dissect and understand how genes function in controlling plant responses to abiotic (i.e., temperature, drought, iron toxic soil) and biotic (i.e., disease, insects) stresses. In an attempt to learn more about these responses, and develop additional "molecular genetic tools", we genotyped a collection of 155 African rice accessions which included both the cultivated species, O. glaberrima, and the ancestral species, O. barthii. Based on hybrid seed production from our crossing efforts and genotypic diversity, we selected eight different crosses to develop into the genetic tool called backcross inbred lines (BILs). These BILs were developed from crosses between four different O. barthii accessions as the male parent, and two cultivated species as the female parent (M-202, a U.S. O. sativa cultivar, and CG14, an O. glaberrima African cultivar). Once complete, this toolset of eight BILs will be available to the public for conducting studies to determine the location and function of genes controlling developmental traits, domestication traits, stress traits and other traits of interest. These BILs can also be used in other crossing efforts to incorporate any gene of interest, into a different rice background.
