Phenotypic and genotypic analysis of drought-resistance traits for development of rice cultivars adapted to rainfed environments

Many of the world's rice-growing regions lack adequate irrigation facilities, and drought frequently reduces yield. This paper reviews drought-resistance traits in rice and their quantitative trait loci (QTLs), with emphasis on CT9993/IR62266, one of the most widely studied mapping populations, and suggests ways to develop cultivars that will perform well in drought-prone environments. Information about the type of drought faced in the target region – particularly the timing of the drought (late season terminal drought, early stage vegetative drought, and intermittent drought) and the intensity of the drought – are important in determining the specific plant traits required to improve drought resistance in rice. Most of these traits are related to drought avoidance strategy, so that the drought-resistant genotypes are able to maintain better internal water status, either by taking up more water through a better root system or by reducing the rate of plant water use. We identified and listed a number of QTLs for many drought-resistance traits, such as deep roots. We identified four key genomic regions on chromosomes 1, 4, 8, and 9 on which are co-located a number of QTLs for traits considered to be directly or indirectly responsible for grain yield under stress. These regions, once they have been more finely mapped, appear promising for eventual use in marker-assisted selection for development of drought-resistant rice varieties. In addition to selecting for specific traits or specific genomic regions, screening under managed drought conditions on the basis of yield itself or on spikelet fertility adjusted for flowering time appears useful, because of the relatively high degrees of heritability of these characters, for the development of drought-resistant rice cultivars, and it is currently practiced in some breeding programs.