Incorporation of the novel bacterial blight resistance gene Xa38 into the genetic background of elite rice variety Improved Samba Mahsuri

Bacterial blight (BB) in rice caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) is a major global production constraint, particularly in irrigated and rain-fed lowland areas. Improved Samba Mahsuri (ISM) is an elite, high-yielding, fine-grain type, BB-resistant rice variety possessing three BB-resistant genes (Xa21, xa13 and xa5) and is highly popular in the southern parts of India. As the BB pathogen is highly dynamic and the evolution of pathogen virulence against the deployed resistance genes is common, we added a novel BB-resistant gene, Xa38, into ISM through marker-assisted backcross breeding (MABB) to increase the spectrum and durability of BB resistance. The breeding line PR 114 (Xa38) was used as the donor for Xa38, whereas ISM was used as the recurrent parent. Foreground selection was conducted using PCR-based gene-specific markers for the target genes, whereas background selection was conducted using a set of polymorphic SSR markers between the parents and backcrossing that continued until the third generation. Eighteen homozygous BC(3)F(2) plants possessing all four BB-resistant genes in the homozygous state and with a recurrent parent genome (RPG) recovery of more than 92% were identified and advanced to the BC(3)F(6) generation. These 18 backcross-derived lines (BDLs) exhibited very high level of resistance against multiple Xoo strains and displayed agro-morphological traits, grain qualities and yield levels similar to or better than those of the recurrent parent ISM.