Genetic diversity of amylose content and RVA pasting parameters in 20 rice accessions grown in Hainan, China

Starch physicochemical properties determine the eating and cooking quality of rice. The genetic diversity in the apparent amylose content (AAC) and pasting viscosity parameters of 20 geographically diverse rice accessions were investigated. It was found that AAC and pasting viscosities differed widely among different accessions, but each accession performed relatively stably across two environments. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that all traits were predominantly controlled by genotypic variance, but the genotype × environment interaction effects were also significant except for AAC and PT. Significant correlations were found for each parameter between 2 years (P < 0.001). Association mapping identified a total of 22 main-effect quantitative trait loci (QTLs) responsible for all traits except for CPV. This study showed that starch physicochemical properties of rice were highly stable and mainly controlled by genetic factors, and gave insight into the molecular improvement of eating quality using marker assisted breeding with the identified QTLs/genes.