Identification and Validation of a QTL for Bacterial Leaf Streak Resistance in Rice ( L.) against Thai Strains.

Rice is one of the most important food crops in the world and is of vital importance to many countries. Various diseases caused by fungi, bacteria and viruses constantly threaten rice plants and cause yield losses. Bacterial leaf streak disease (BLS) caused by pv. () is one of the most devastating rice diseases. However, most modern rice varieties are susceptible to BLS. In this study, we applied the QTL-seq approach using an F population derived from the cross between IR62266 and Homcholasit (HSC) to rapidly identify the quantitative trait loci (QTL) that confers resistance to BLS caused by a Thai isolate, SP7-5. The results showed that a single genomic region at the beginning of chromosome 5 was highly associated with resistance to BLS. The gene was considered a potential candidate gene in this region since most associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were within this gene. A Kompetitive Allele-Specific PCR (KASP) marker was developed based on two consecutive functional SNPs in and validated in six F populations inoculated with another Thai isolate, 2NY2-2. The phenotypic variance explained by this marker (PVE) ranged from 59.04% to 70.84% in the six populations. These findings indicate that is a viable candidate gene for BLS resistance and may help in breeding programs for BLS resistance.