CONSTRUCTION OF THE SALT-TOLERANT RICE VARIETY SHPT15 USING THE MARKER-ASSISTED SELECTION

Abstract

Marker-assisted selection (MAS) has been considered as one of the most effective tools for the construction of rice varieties adapted to climate change. In this study, we successfully created the new rice line, namely SHPT15 from Bac Thom No 7 (BT7) × FL478 (donor harboring Saltol) by the MAS approach. Particularly, the SHPT15 line was obtained from the BC₃F₆ generation and validated the occurrence of the homozygous Saltol locus gene by molecular markers. Our results also demonstrated that SHPT15 could resist high salinity conditions (6‰) at the seedling stage for 15 days. Next, our author testings in two seasons in Giao Chau Commune, Giao Thuy District, Nam Dinh Province found that SHPT15 has potentially developed in the Northern provinces. More specifically, SHPT15 had some good agronomical traits, such as the short growth duration, as similar to the BT7 varitety. Interestingly, the yields of SHPT15 have been found to be significantly higher than BT7 (6.37 tons/ha in the Spring season and 6.14 tons/ha in the Summer season). Additionally, SHPT15 also exhibited a high tolerance to major insects/diseases in the field. Taken together, our results could provide a solid foundation for further ecological testings of SHPT15 in the Northern provinces in Vietnam.