Abstract:
Development salinity tolerant rice varieties have been a prioritized research area in rice breeding
programs in Sri Lanka. Present study was initiated with the cross of At354, a salt tolerant
parent and Bg352, a salt susceptible parent aiming at identifying salinity tolerant quantitative
trait loci (QTL) in elite rice background. In rice, as getting true hybrids is a technical problem,
F1
progeny was assessed using microsatellite markers that are close proximity to Saltol QTL
in chromosome 1. SSR Markers such as RM1287, RM493, RM10772, RM10852 and RM140
were polymorphic between parents. Six true hybrids were selected by polymorphic markers
and subsequent generations were developed successfully by single seed descent method. This
study explains the feasibility of utilizing microsatellite markers for verification of hybridity,
surveying of polymorphic markers in chromosome 1 of At354 and Bg352 and progress towards
Recombinant Inbred Line population development.
