Identification of Suitable Restorers for WA-CMS Lines of Rice (Oryza sativa L.) through Conventional and Molecular Breeding Methods

The current study extensively evaluates 51 genotypes for their fertility restoration potential using test crosses with five WA (wild abortive) Cytoplasmic Male Sterile lines namely IR58025A, IR6897A, IR79156A, IR80559A and APMS6A. Also the genotypes were screened using SSR markers RM6100 and RM10313, tightly linked with the fertility restorer genes Rf4 and Rf3 respectively. The two way approach helped in identifying potential restorers for five WA-CMS lines and also detected the presence of dominant Rf genes in their genetic background. The R-lines identified can be safely presumed to be strong restorers for consecutive A-lines they were crossed with. The study also identified a potential maintainer CN1039-9 for the A-line IR58025A. The maintainer line identified can be later exploited for developing new CMS lines.