Construction of three half-sib SSR linkage maps derived from overwintering cultivated rice and segregation distortion loci mapping.

Segregation distortion is a common phenomenon that has been observed in genetics and plant breeding; however, the mechanism of segregation distortion is unknown. In the present study, three half-sib F populations derived from three overwinter (perennial) rice varieties (W1, W2, and W3) crossed to the rice variety Minghui725 (MH725) were developed to construct three half-sib linkage maps. We established linkage map lengths of 2032.8, 2317.4, and 2108.7 cM with average intervals of 20.1, 20.5, and 19.7 cM using 101, 113, and 107 SSR markers in W1/MH725, W2/MH725, and W3/MH725, respectively. Discrepancies in marker order and genetic linkage distance occurred in the three half-sib linkage maps due to segregation distortion. A total of 88 markers exhibited segregation distortion across the three linkage maps at < 0.01 level, 42 segregation distortion loci (SDLs) were detected across the three half-sib populations and exhibited variable LOD value that ranged from 3.2 () to 30.1 (), and 13 of the 42 SDLs were repeatedly located at the same chromosomal regions of the previously published hybrid sterility quantitative trait loci. Data from this study provide an extensive archive for investigating the genetic characteristic of overwintering cultivated rice and the future exploration and innovation of overwintering rice breeding.