Molecular and Morphological Characterisation of Back Cross Generations for Yield and Blast Resistance in Rice

Blast caused by Pyricularia oryzae is one of the major constraints limiting rice production globally. Study was undertaken at TNAU, India using a set of selected genotypes including cultivated varieties and (Near Isogenic Lines) NILs and they were screened for blast resistance both genotypically and phenotypically. Genetic diversity was studied among the genotypes and those which are diverse in blast resistance but had similar morphological and quality traits were selected as parents for breeding programme. Selected genotypes were crossed and advanced to further generations up to BC4F1 by marker assisted back crossing. Genetic variability and heritability parameters were assessed among these segregating generations for yield and resistance traits and their trend in each generation was analysed. The disease resistance traits showed high variability in segregating generations as the parents were selected based on the diversity in disease reaction and therefore gives scope for improvement through selection. High heritability coupled with low genetic advance was found in all characters in the segregating generations except single plant yield and panicle length. *Corresponding author: Dr. Divya Balakrishnan, Scientist (Plant Breeding and Genetics), National Professor Project, Crop Improvement Section, Directorate of Rice Research-ICAR, Rajendranagar-30, Hyderabad, India, Tel: +918374499907; E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected] Received January 18, 2016; Accepted August 15, 2016; Published August 25, 2016 Citation: Balakrishnan D, Robin S, Rabindran R, Joel AJ (2016) Molecular and Morphological Characterisation of Back Cross Generations for Yield and Blast Resistance in Rice. J Rice Res 4: 169. doi:10.4172/2375-4338.1000169 Copyright: © 2016 Balakrishnan D, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.