Marker-free transgenic lines of rice are developed with enhanced trehalose accumulation that is associated with improved grain yield under salinity, sodicity, and drought stresses.

Rice is a staple food crop in Asia and plays a crucial role in the economy of this region. However, production of rice and its cultivating areas are under constant threat of soil salinity. A major QTL, Saltol, responsible for salinity tolerance at seedling stage has been mapped on chromosome 1 using Pokkali/IR29 Recombinant Inbred Lines (RIL) population. The present study was aimed to incorporate Saltol Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) in two high yielding mega rice varieties i.e. Pusa44 and Sarjoo52 through Marker Assisted Backcross Breeding (MABB). To improve the seedling stage salinity tolerance in these cultivars, we introgressed the Saltol QTL from donor parent FL478 a derivative of Pokkali. A total of three backcrosses (BC 3) followed by selfing have led to successful introgression of Saltol QTL. Foreground selection at each breeding cycle was done using micro-satellite markers RM3412 and AP3206 to confirm Saltol QTL. The precise transfer of Saltol region was established using recombinant selection through flanking markers RM493 and G11a. Finally, 10 Saltol near isogenic lines (NILs) of Pusa44 and eight NILs of Sarjoo52 were successfully developed. These NILs (BC 3 F 4) were evaluated for seedling stage salinity under hydroponic system. The NILs PU99,