Introgression of Major Blast Resistance Gene Pi-2 into Elite Rice Cultivar Yairipok Phou through Marker Assisted Selection

Rice blast (Pyricularia oryzae L.) caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae is one of the most devastating diseases causing massive losses worldwide. Development of blast resistance of rice varieties cultivated in blast endemic areas is one of the most important objectives of rice breeding programs. The objective of the present investigation is to develop breeding lines utilizing YAIRIPOK PHOU× C101A51 through the pedigree method along with MAS. Therefore, marker-assisted selection, which has got the enormous potential to transfer gene(s) of interest from donor to diverse rice cultivars with high precision within the short breeding cycle is the best choice to deploy the selected blast-resistant Pi2 gene into the genotype of Yairipok Phou. One hundred and twelve F2 plants produced through selfing were screened with gene-specific markers Pi2(i) to identify the plants carrying the Pi2 gene. Out of the 112 F2 plants that were subjected to foreground analysis, 25 F2 plants (F2-8, F2-35, F2-39, F2-41, F2-44, F2-48, F2-53, F2-55, F2-56, F2-60, F2-61, F2-62, F2-64, F2-70, F2-73, F2-75, F2-80, F2-86, F2-88, F2-89, F2-90, F2-94, F2-101, F2-105 and F2-106 were found to be homozygous for the target genes (Pi2Pi2. Out of the 25 F2 lines with the target genes in homozygous condition, seven lines viz., F2-39, F2-60, F2-70, F2-73, F2-75, F2-86, and F2-90 exhibited yield per plant better or on par with RP Yairipok phou coupled with more or less difference concerning a number of productive tillers and 1000 seed weight over the recurrent parent RP Yairipok Phou. These lines with desirable agronomic traits and blast resistance were selected and need to be advanced and evaluated further for their yield parameters along with disease resistance.