A diallel analysis of heterosis in elite hybrid rice based on RFLPs and microsatellites

Hybrid rice has contributed significantly to the dramatic increase of rice production in the world. Despite this, little attention has been given to studying the genetic basis of heterosis in rice. In this paper, we report a diallel analysis of heterosis using two classes of molecular markers: restriction fragment length polymorphisms, (RFLPs) and microsatellites. Eight lines, which represent a significant portion of hybrid rice germ plasm, were crossed in all possible pairs, and the F₁s were evaluated for yield and yield component traits in a replicated field trial. The parental lines were surveyed for polymorphisms with 117 RFLP probes and ten microsatellites, resulting in a total of 76 polymorphic markers well-spaced in the rice RFLP map. The results indicated that high level heterosis is common among these crosses: more than 100% midparent and 40% better-parent heterosis were observed in many F₁s, including some crosses between maintainer lines. Heterosis was found to be much higher for yield than for yield component traits, which fits a multiplicative model almost perfectly. Between 16 and 30 marker loci (positive markers) detected highly significant effects on yield or its component traits. Heterozygosity was significantly correlated with several attributes of performance and heterosis. Correlations based on positive markers (specific heterozygosity) were large for midparent heterosis of yield and seeds/panicle and also for F₁ kernel weight. These large correlations may have practical utility for predicting heterosis.