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Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.) produces yellowish-flesh and whitish-flesh fruits. A bud mutation with whitish-flesh fruits originating from the yellowish-flesh cultivar ‘Dongting’ was discovered. The white mutant and yellow loquats were collected and used in this study. Two polymorphic bands were obtained with the primers UBC813/535 and OPH01/1719, discriminating between wild and mutant genomes. The deduced amino acids of the two sequences were highly correlated with NAD-dependent sorbitol dehydrogenase (NAD+-SDH) in E. japonica and F-box proteins, S ribonuclease (S-RNase) in P. pyrifolia. Three SNP variances at nucleotide 32, 370 and 461 in the coding sequence of the NAD-SDH gene, were observed in whitish fruit mutants, and the amino acids of the three alleles were also different. In addition, real-time quantitative PCR showed that NAD-SDH and some other carotenogenic genes were considerably suppressed in ripe mutant fruits compared to those in wild fruits. These results suggest that flesh color of loquat might be controlled by at least two loci referring to NAD+-SDH and S-locus, in addition to expression levels of carotenogenic genes. The NAD-SDH might be an upstream gene involved in I²-carotene accumulation in yellowish-flesh fruit and it may be important for flesh color and fructose biosynthesis.

Bt5198, a new rice restorer line containing Bt gene, was developed from the cross and backcross of the elite restorer line Chenghui 177 with Bt Minghui 63, a transgenic Bt restorer line. The inbred lines were evaluated using PCR amplification, test paper evaluation, insect resistance evaluation in both the laboratory and paddy fields, nursery evaluation of rice blast resistance and pedigree selection of agronomic traits. Larval mortalities on Bt5198 and Bt Minghui 63 were 100% when rice culms were inoculated with the eggs of the striped stem borer (SSB) in the laboratory. Bt5198 was highly resistant against SSB and the yellow stem borer (YSB) under field conditions. The F1 hybrids derived from Bt5198 and four cytoplasmic male sterile (CMS) lines were also highly resistant to SSB and YSB and had a significant heterosis. Two-year evaluation of rice blast resistance confirmed that the resistance levels of Bt5198 to leaf blast and neck blast were similar to those of Chenghui 177 and significantly better than those of Bt Minghui 63. Seed germination ability and pollen yield of Bt5198 were similar with Chenghui 177, suggesting that the introduction of the Bt gene into the new restorer line had no significant effects on seed vitality or the yield of seed production. To identify the presence of the Bt gene, it was effective to combine test paper examination with the evaluation of insect-resistance, both in the laboratory and under field conditions.

Inheritance analysis and gene mapping of the glabrous trait were conducted using the crosses between a pubescent rice material Chuanxiang 29B (an aromatic elite maintainer line of hybrid rice), and two glabrous rice materials, Lemont and R2 (R2 is a new restorer line of hybrid rice). All F1 plants from the two crosses had pubescent leaves, confirming that the pubescence trait in Chuanxiang 29B is dominant over the glabrous trait. In F2 individuals, the segregation ratio of three pubescent to one glabrous plant suggests that a single glabrous gene was present in Lemont and R2. Using the bulked segregant analysis, the linkage analysis of the simple sequence repeat markers showed that the glabrous gene, gl-1, was flanked by GL311 and GL8 with the genetic distances of 0.19 and 0.92 cM on chromosome 5, respectively.

We investigated inheritance and carried out gene fine mapping of aroma in crosses between the aromatic elite hybrid rice Oryza sativa indica variety Chuanxiang-29B (Ch-29B) and the non-aromatic rice O. sativa indica variety R2 and O. sativa japonica Lemont (Le). The F1 grains and leaves were non-aromatic while the F2 non-aroma to aroma segregation pattern was 3:1. The F3 segregation ratio was consistent with the expected 1:2:1 for a single recessive aroma gene in Ch-29B. Linkage analysis between simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers and the aroma locus for the aromatic F2 plants mapped the Ch-29B aroma gene to a chromosome 8 region flanked by SSR markers RM23120 at 0.52 cM and RM3459 at 1.23 cM, a replicate F2 population confirming these results. Three bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones cover chromosome 8 markers RM23120 and RM3459. Our molecular mapping data from the two populations indicated that the aroma locus occurs in a 142.85 kb interval on BAC clones AP005301 or AP005537, implying that it might be the same gene reported by Bradbury et al (2005a; Plant Biotec J. 3:363-370). The flanking markers Aro7, RM23120 and RM3459 identified by us could greatly accelerate the efficiency and precision of aromatic rice breeding programs.