Rice is the main staple food in the world. Despite having a lower nutritional quality than other cereals, rice contributes 15% of the world's population's protein intake per capita. Enhancing the nutritional quality of rice will improve the nutritional status of the malnourished improvised country, and for this, the detection of QTLs linked to grain protein content and markers associated with them need to be discovered to have an efficient breeding approach. The experiment was conducted at the Crop Improvement Division, ICAR-National Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, Odisha, India, during 2021. The current study looked at a marker trait association of rice grain protein content using a panel population of 96 derived lines of backcross population. Grain protein content (%) was phenotyped and genotyped using a few chromosome 1 polymorphic SSR markers. The mean grain protein content was found to be 9.03 per cent, while it ranged from 3.83 to 17.76 per cent. Polymorphic markers were then used to score the 96 derived lines. The single marker RM12107 was positively correlated with grain protein content and was found significant with an R2 value > 0.05. It is clearly understood that this association is not consistent over seasons and needs to be studied on a large scale.

Grain protein, Marker-trait association, QTLs, Rice backcross population and SSR markers

Using a panel population of 96 derived lines from a backcross population, the current study examined a marker trait relationship of rice grain protein content. Using a few chromosome 1 polymorphic SSR markers, grain protein content (%) was phenotyped and genotyped. It was found that the average grain protein content was 9.03%, ranging from 3.83 to 17.76%. The 96 generated lines were then scored with polymorphic markers. The one marker, RM12107, had a significant R2 value of greater than 0.05 and was positively linked with grain protein content. It is clearly understood that this association is not consistent over seasons and needs to be studied on a large scale.

Nutan Moharana, Bansidhar Pradhan, Krishnendu Chattopadhyay, Shuvendu Shekhar Mohapatra, Tapash Kumar Mishra, Mihir Ranjan Mohanty and Rajesh Kumar Kar (2022). Analysis of Marker-trait Association of Backcross Population in Rice using SSR Markers for High Grain Protein Content. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 14(4a): 656-661.