Analysis of the Conditional Correlations from Different Genetic Systems Between the Protein Content and the Appearance Quality Traits of Indica Rice

A factorial mating design in two environments was conducted using 7 cytoplasmic male sterile lines (A) and 5 restorer lines (R) along with their F1 (A × R) and F2 populations. The unconditional and conditional analyses of genetic models and the corresponding statistic methods, including endospermic, cytoplasmic, and maternal plant genetic systems, were used to analyze the genetic relationships between protein content (PC) and the appearance quality traits of indica rice (Oryza sativa L.). The results from unconditional analysis indicated that PC was significantly correlated with the appearance quality traits of rice, except for the brown rice thickness (BRT). Only the genetic covariance between PC and the brown rice width (BRW) was positively correlative, whereas all the other pairwise traits were negatively correlative. The results from conditional analysis revealed that the weight of brown rice (WBR) or the amylose content (AC) could significantly affect the relationships between PC and the appearance quality traits of indica rice. The conditional analysis showed that WBR might negatively affect the relationships between PC and the brown rice length (BRL), BRW, or BRT through the genotype × environmental (GE) interaction effects, but positively affected the relationships between PC and the ratio of brown rice length to width (RLW) or the ratio of brown rice length to thickness (RLT). The amylase content could positively affect the relationships between PC and BRL, RLW, RLT through the cytoplasmic effects and maternal additive effects, but negatively affected the relationships between PC and BRW.