Molecular screening of traditional rice varieties using tsv1-linked simple sequence repeat markers

Abstract

Genebanks offer vast amounts of traditional germplasm with potential sources of novel genes against biotic and abiotic stresses. In order to utilize the germplasm in rice breeding programmes, there should be a fast screening approach such as the use of molecular markers. Thus, the current study aimed to evaluate the use of tsv1 resistance-linked simple sequence repeat markers (SSR) for the preliminary screening of Philippine traditional rice germplasm against rice tungro spherical virus (RTSV). The tsv1 resistance-linked SSR markers consisted of two to four repeat motifs with 5–24 base repeats. Expected sizes ranged from 123 to 465 base pairs (bp) with polymorphism information content ranging from 0.23 to 0.73. Genetic analysis showed six major clusters at 50%: Clusters A, B and C had individual accessions, Cluster D had three accessions, Cluster E had 55 and Cluster F had 42 accessions. The study showed the germplasm with alleles linked to tsv1 but should be validated in the future with induced screening. In general, the material consisted of selected germplasm showing the presence of alleles linked to the tsv1 gene. These rice accessions could be a source of resistance to RTSV following further validation. Furthermore, molecular markers provide a useful tool to accelerate the screening of genetic resources for biotic and abiotic stress tolerance.