Molecular Mapping of the Chromosomal Regions Associated with Zinc Content in Grains of Rice (Oryza sativa L.) using Microsatellite Markers

Rice is the most important grain with regard to human nutrition and caloric intake, providing more than one fifth of the calories consumed worldwide by the human species. The present study was conceptualized and executed with the prime objective of mapping the chromosomal regions associated with zinc content involving the F2 populations derived from a cross between Samba Mahsuri and Ranbir Basmati using microsatellite markers derived from the genomic regions associated with zinc metabolism. Out of the 45 microsatellite markers used for the parental polymorphism studies, 16 markers were polymorphic, 8 markers were monomorphic and 21 were not amplified. Three polymorphic markers associated with cation uptake viz., SC 129, SC 135 and SC 141 were used to assay F2 individual plants. The linkage distance of these three markers, SC 129, SC 135 and SC 141 with their respective genes OsZIP1, OsZIP8 and OsNRAMP7 on chromosomes 3, 5 and 12 were found to be 47.8 cM, 15.2 cM and 44.6 cM, respectively. The methodology of selective genotyping could successfully identify the chromosomal regions associated with zinc content in grains and the association could be made much effective by analyzing large F2 population using more functional polymorphic markers. Key words: Biofortification, Mapping, Microsatellite, Rice, Zinc