Identification of quantitative trait Loci controlling F₂ sterility and heading date in rice

Ninety-six F₂ lines derived from a cross between a japonica cultivar Taichung 65 and an indica cultivar Bhadua were developed. At the first step, an RFLP linkage map based on the F₂ lines was constructed. The RFLP map contained 94 RFLP makers. F₂ sterility and heading date are important agronomic traits of rice; meanwhile heading date is related to many characters of agronomic importance including sterility. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis was carried out to identify genes controlling F₂ sterility and heading date. Both single factor analysis and interval analysis were applied for QTL analysis. Two QTLs for F₂ spikelet sterility were newly detected on Chromosome 1 and 8. Five QTLs for heading date were detected on Chromosome 1, 4, 6, 8 and 10. Two of them on chromosomel and 10 were newly detected. Near-isogenic lines are now under construction for further QTL analysis and gene mapping of these QTLs newly identified in this paper.