Author(s)

Bihu Huang^1*, Zongbu Yan^2,3

¹Department of Agriculture, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Pine Bluff, USA.
²Agri-Life Research, TAMU, Beaumont, USA.
³Guizhou Rice Research Institute, Guiyang, China.

A new sterile line UP-3s, which carries the Dominant Early Maturity Gene (DEMG), was bred on the farm of University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB). UP-3s and two check sterile lines, Jin23-A and Xie-A which do not carry the Dominant Early Maturity Gene, were crossed with a group of different maturity restorer lines, PB-1R, PB-5R，PB11, PB-13R, PB-20, PB-21, PB-22R, and PB-23R. Eighteen new hybrid rice combinations of these crosses were then tested at UAPB in 2012 and 2013. The results showed that panicle differentiation (PD) of hybrids from female parent UP-3s (DEMG) crossed with the 8 male parents, were earlier than the hybrids from female parent Jin23-A or Xie-A crossed with the 8 male parents. The PD of these earlier hybrids was before Jun 25 and heading was before July 20. Early PD and heading avoided the high temperature (over 34°C) period which usually occurs after July 20 in Arkansas. The yields of these earlier maturity hybrids with female parent UP-3s were higher than those of the late maturity hybrids thatwereF1 progeny of sterile lines Jin23-A or Xie-A (these two female parent checks with non-DEMG). These results showed that the DEMG sterile line UP-3s can be adopted in making crosses with later maturity restorer lines to obtain earlier maturity hybrids to avoid the high temperature period in Arkansas.

Earlier Maturity, Dominant Gene, Sterile Line, Hybrid Rice, Utilization, Breeding, Avoid, High Temperature

Huang, B. and Yan, Z. (2015) Utilizing Dominant Early Maturity Genes of Sterile Line UP-3s in Hybrid Rice Breeding to Avoid High Temperature Season. American Journal of Plant Sciences, 6, 2596-2602. doi: 10.4236/ajps.2015.616262.