Cassava {Manihot esculenta Crantz) staroh is traded in international markets more than starch from any other source. The starch industry requires cassava cultivars with novel starch characteristics for commercial exploitation. A natural source of waxy (amylose-free) cassava starch, clone AM 206-5, was identified at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). The granule-bound starch synthase I {GBSSl) gene is related to the waxy starch trait. The objectives of this study were to introgress the waxy starch mutation into Thailand's cassava breeding populations, to analyze the inheritance of waxy starch in cassava, and to develop molecular markers for this trait. AM 206-5 {wxwx) was crossed with several elite oultivars {WxWx) to transfer the wx alíele. Unrelated "F/' {Wxwx) genotypes were crossed among themselves to produce a "Fg" segregating population with negligible levels of inbreeding depression. The waxy starch phenotype was recovered in 25.7% ofthe 11,192 genotypes tested. This result provides further evidence that cassava is a functional diploid and that only one copy of GBSSl is present in cassava. A full-length genomic DNA sequence of GBSSl was isolated and characterized from C8, a waxy starch "f^" clone derived from AM 206-5. We exploited these sequence differences to develop two diagnostic single-nucleotideamplified polymorphism (SNAP) markers to differentiate homozygous waxy {wxwx) from the heterozygous {Wxwx) and homozygous {WxWx) nonwaxy genotypes.

The rice varieties IR64 and Jao Hom Nin (JHN) demonstrated a broad-spectrum resistance against the rice blast pathogens in Thailand. A genomic investigation unravelled many resistance genes residing on four genomic regions, chromosome 2 and 12 in IR64 and 1 and 11 in JHN. A cross between these varieties was made to combine resistance genes into a single genotype. Marker-assisted selection (MAS) was employed to identify F2 and F3 plants carrying a combination of four resistance QTLs in a homozygous fusion. Flanking markers RM212/RM319 and RM144/RM139 to blast resistant QTLs on chromosome 1 and 11 in JHN rice and tightly-linked markers RM208 and RM179 to blast resistant QTLs on chromosome 2 and 12 in IR64 rice variety were used for MAS. The stepwise MAS screening was brought in as a strategy to provide a cost-saving and minimum number of PCR performing to select resistant genotypes. F4 generation, lines carrying all resistant QTLs show a broader spectrum of resistance against 11 representatives of Thai blast pathogen isolates. (Résumé d'auteur

This study was designed to investigate differences in patterns of physiological responses to salinity stress among five japonica rice cultivars in comparison with FL478 as a salinity tolerance check. Five japonica cultivars were screened for salinity tolerance at seedling stage based on visual symptoms of salt injury index and physiological parameters including dry matter production, electrolyte leakage ratio and ion concentration. The results indicated that cultivars Ouukan383 and FL478 were relatively more salinity tolerant than other cultivars and that Kanniho was the most salinity‐sensitive cultivar. Ouukan383 showed higher leaf water content and lower electrolyte leakage ratio under salinity stress. Notably, under salinity stress, Na+ concentration in the leaf blades was much lower in Ouukan383 than in FL478, but was much higher in Kanniho. To understand the basis for these differences, we studied transcript levels of the genes encoding Na+ transport proteins in different tissues. In response to salinity stress, Ouukan383 had highly induced expression of the OsHKT1;4 gene in the leaf sheaths, corresponding to higher Na+ accumulation in the leaf sheaths and lower Na+ accumulation in the leaf blades. On the other hand, the sensitive cultivar, Kanniho, had highly induced expression of the OsSOS1 and OsNHX1 genes in the leaf blades, whose gene products are responsible for Na+ efflux outside cells and Na+ compartmentalization into vacuoles. Thus, the salinity‐tolerant and salinity‐sensitive cultivars differed in their responses to Na+ fluxes in plant cells using different transport systems in each tissue type. The salinity‐tolerant japonica cultivar, Ouukan383, has an effective Na+ exclusion mechanism at the leaf sheaths to prevent Na+ accumulation in the leaf blades. Such a mechanism, in combination with other genetic traits (e.g. Na+ exclusion at the roots mediated by OsHKT1;5), offers the potential to improve salinity tolerance in rice.

One hundred and seventy-four isolates of Pyricularia grisea were collected from various hosts such as barley, rice, weed and wild rice in Thailand. Seven arbitrary decamer primers from the set of University of British Columbia were employed and nine lineages were classified. Lineages B, C and H were predominant, contributing up to 70% of total pathogens in this study. Analysis showed that the distribution of each lineage differs from the predominant lineages across Thailand in such that other lineages were restricted in particular area. For instance, lineage A was limited only in southern Thailand, whereas wide distribution of lineages B and C reflected an influence of both biological and physical effects on pathogen variation. Principal component analysis resulted in a total of four groups of blast pathogen with small distinctions between barley-, rice-, weed-and wild rice-infected blast. Bridging relationships occurred among border isolates of weed and rice blast suggesting a chance of migrations between hosts. Higher diversity was observed in northern, north-eastern and central Thailand while eastern and southern parts were rather low. Genetic diversity indices elucidated an abundance of pathogen lineages existing in northern Thailand suggesting that it should be the centre of diversity.

Rice is a staple food for more than half of the world’s population. Modern rice varieties have been developed for high yield and quality; however, there has been a substantial loss of diversity. A greater number of genetically dynamic landraces could offer valuable and useful genetic resources for rice improvement. In this study, the genetic diversity and population structure of 365 accessions of lowland and upland landraces from four populations from different geographical regions of Thailand were investigated using 75 SNP markers. Clustering analyses using maximum likelihood, Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA), and Discriminant Analysis of Principal Components (DAPC) clustered these landraces into two main groups, corresponding to indica and japonica groups. The indica group was further clustered into two subgroups according to the DAPC and STRUCTURE analyses (K = 3). The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) analysis results revealed that 91% of the variation was distributed among individuals, suggesting a high degree of genetic differentiation among rice accessions within the populations. Pairwise FST showed the greatest genetic differentiation between the northeastern and southern populations and the smallest genetic differentiation between the northern and northeastern populations. Isolation-by-distance analysis based on a Mantel test indicated a significant relationship between the genetic distance and geographic distance among the Thai rice landraces. The results from this study provide insight into the genetic diversity of Thai rice germplasm, which will enhance the germplasm characterization, conservation, and utilization in rice genetics and breeding.