QTL analysis for Rice eating quality and cooking process

The cooking and eating quality of the rice grain is one of the most serious problems in many rice producing areas of the world. In this study, we performed a QTL analysis of rice cooking and eating quality using a recombinant inbred line derived from a cross between Minghui 63 (MH63), the Chinese best male sterility restorer in the hybrid rice programs, and Kkao Dawk Mali105 (KDML 105), the Thai jasmine rice, known as the best quality rice. The traits analyzed include amylose content (AC), gel consistency (GC), alkali spreading value (ASV), and 13 parameters from the viscosity profile. Comparison of the QTL identified revealed 11 QTL clusters for these traits that are distributed on six chromosomes. The QTL for the traits in same class often clustered into same chromosomal regions. A total of 29 distinct QTLs were identified for 16 traits (or parameters) in the two years at P=0.01 level. Our results clearly showed that the QTL corresponding to the Wx locus simultaneously controlled most of viscosity parameters, but had no effect on AC, GC, ASV, V95, Btime, Atime, Atemp, Btemp and CPV. The QTL corresponding to the Alk locus played a role in ASV, GC, AC, all of the viscosity profiles