Developmental Genetic Analysis of Brown Rice Weight Under Different Environmental Conditions in indica Rice

Analysis of genetic main effects and genotype×environment (GE) interaction effects for brown rice weight (BRW) at four different filling stages in indica rice ( Oryza sativa L.) was conducted for two-year experimental data by using developmental genetic models and corresponding statistical approaches for quantitative traits of seeds in cereal crops. It was indicated that the genetic main effects and their GE interaction effects of triploid endosperm, cytoplasmic and diploid maternal plant genes were important for BRW at different filling stages of rice, especially for endosperm or maternal additive main effects and their additive interaction effects. Because of the higher additive effects and additive interaction effects for BRW at different filling stages, the better improving effects for this trait could be expected by selection in rice breeding. The results of conditional genetic variance components showed that the new expression of quantitative genes in endosperm and maternal plant for BRW was mostly found at all different filling stages of rice. The gene expression, however, was most active at the early filling stages especially for the first (1-7 d) and the second filling stages (8-14 d after flowering). The phenomena that some genes were spasmodically expressible among filling stages of rice were detected for some genetic effects especially for net cytoplasmic main effects or its interaction effects and net dominance main effects. Predicted genetic effects at different filling stages of rice showed that some parents such as V20 and Zuo 5 were better than others for improving the BRW.