Inheritance of long grain rice amylograph viscosity characteristics

Southern United States long grain rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a unique market type characterized by intermediate amylose content, gelatinization temperature, and amylograph viscosity profile characteristics. Rice breeders sometimes use long grain germplasm with differing amylograph viscosity profiles. The inheritance of rice amylograph viscosity profiles has not been ascertained and, thus, was the objective of this study. A six parent diallel (parents plus F1 hybrids) was evaluated at Stuttgart, AR during 1994 and 1995. In 1994, 65 F2 plants from the ‘L-202’ × ‘Newrex’ and L-202 × ‘Katy’ crosses were space planted, and in 1995, the 65 F2:3 lines were planted as hill plots. The inheritance of amylograph viscosity profiles appeared to be controlled by a single locus with genes with additive effects. The results of the diallel analysis also support control by a single locus with genes with additive effects because GCA effects were significant and SCA effects nonsignificant for peak, hot paste, and cool paste viscosities. Intermediate amylose content and intermediate amylograph viscosity profiles were strongly correlated. Selection first for intermediate amylose content followed by reselection for intermediate hot paste viscosities would identify long grain genotypes with southern United States long grain cooking quality in progeny from crosses between southern United States long grain rice genotypes and softer cooking long grain genotypes.