Convenient estimation of unfertilized grains in rice.

AbstractFailure of fertilization in rice is a critical yield-determining factor in plants subjected to temperature or water stress at the early-reproductive stage and in high-yield cultivars bearing heavy spikelets. Although it is important to identify quickly the unfertilized spikelets for research and selection of stress-resistant or high-ripening cultivars from bulksamples, the identification takes time because unfertilized spikelets are usually determined by visual and manual procedures. Our objective was to develop a convenient method to identify unfertilized spikelets in rice. Takanari spikelets at maturity grown in the paddy field were separated into floating and sinking spikelets by different specific gravity solutions of ethanol/water mixture. The unfertilized spikelets were identified by checking the grains inside the spikelets by light penetration and examining the spikelets manually. The percentage of floating spikelets decreased with the increase in ethanol concentration, and that of floating...