Registration of ‘Cheniere’ Rice

‘Cheniere’ (Oryza sativa L.) (Reg. no. CV-120, PI 634719, NSSL 428621.52) is a high-yielding, early maturing, semidwarf long-grain rice cultivar developed at the Rice Research Station at Crowley, LA, by the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center (LSUAgCenter) in cooperation with the USDA-ARS, the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station, and the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station. Cheniere was officially released by the LSUAgCenter in 2002. Cheniere was developed from the cross ‘Newbonnet’/ ‘Katy’/3/‘L-202’/‘Lemont’//‘L-202’ made at the Rice Research Station in 1994 (94CR112). Newbonnet is a high yielding, conventional height, long-grain rice cultivar, while Katy is a tall, early, blast-resistant long-grain rice cultivar. Both of these cultivars were developed by theArkansasAgricultural Experiment Station in Stuttgart, AR (Johnston et al., 1984, Moldenhauer et al., 1990). L-202 is a semidwarf, very early long-grain rice cultivar released by the Rice Experiment Station in Biggs, CA (Tseng et al., 1984). Lemont is a high yielding, semidwarf, longgrain cultivar developed by theUSDA-ARS in conjunction with the Texas A&M University Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Beaumont, TX (Bollich et al., 1985). Cheniere started as a bulk of F5 seeds of panicle row 9828209 in 1998. It was tested in the preliminary yield trials (PY) in Crowley, LA, as entry PY709, in 1999 and entered into the Cooperative Uniform Regional Rice Nurseries (URRN) in 2000 with the designation of RU0002174. The line was also evaluated in the Louisiana Commercial-Advanced test during 2001–2002. Cheniere has a semidwarf plant type and good lodging resistance. The average plant height of Cheniere in 26 trials is 90 cm compared with 93 cm for both Cocodrie and Cypress. In 28 trials, the average number of days from emergence to 50% heading for Cheniere is 84 d as compared with 81 d for Cocodrie and 85 d for Cypress. Cheniere has an excellent grain yield and good milling yield. In 27 statewide and regional trials during 1999 through 2002, average grain yield of Cheniere was 8903 kg ha at 120 g kg moisture compared with 8803 and 7841 kg ha for Cocodrie and Cypress, respectively. In 10 state and regional tests (1999– 2002), average ratoon yield for Cheniere is 1285 kg ha at 120 g kg moisture compared with 1794 kg ha and 1700 kg ha for Cocodrie and Cypress, respectively. When evaluated in 20 state and regional tests from 1999–2002, milling yields (mg g whole milled rice to mg g total milled rice) at 120 g kg moisture were 607:698 for Cheniere, 612:689 for Cocodrie, and 636:698 for Cypress. A comparison of kernel dimensions of Cheniere with other commercial long-grain cultivars indicates that it has a similar long grain size. Brown rice dimensions for Cheniere were 7.18 mm L, 2.15 mmW, thickness 1.67 mm, L/W 3.34, and kernel weight 18.8 mg compared with 7.13, 2.14, 1.67, 3.33, and 19.4 for Cocodrie and 7.09, 2.23, 1.68, 3.18, and 20.2 for Cypress. Average apparent amylose content of Cheniere was 248 g kg compared with 241 g kg and 207 g kg for Cocodrie and Cypress, respectively. Cheniere has an intermediate gelatinization temperature (70–758C), as indicated by an average alkali (17 g kg KOH) spreading value of 4. The flag leaf of Cheniere is longer than that of Cocodrie and much more erect and above the panicle canopy at maturity. The leaves, lemma, and palea of Cheniere are glabrous. The spikelet is straw-colored and some short awns have been observed in certain environments. The apiculus is light purple at heading and the color fades as grains approach maturity. The endosperm of Cheniere is nonaromatic, nonglutinous, and covered by a light brown pericarp. Cheniere is susceptible to sheath blight (caused by Rhizoctonia solani Kühn) and blast [caused by Pyricularia grisea (Cooke) Sacc.]. However, Cheniere is resistant to the physiological disorder straighthead, rating a 1.3 on a disease scale of 05 immune, 95 highly susceptible, compared with 5.2 for Cocodrie. Cheniere is also moderately resistant to leaf smut (caused by Entyloma oryzae Syd. & P. Syd.) and narrow brown leaf spot (caused by Cercospora janseana (Racib.) O. Const.), rating a 3.7 and 3.3, compared with a 2.2 and 2.9 for Cocodrie, respectively. Off-types observed and removed from increase fields of Cheniere included any combination of the following: taller, shorter, pubescent, earlier, later, gold-hull, and intermediate grain shape. The total number of off-types was less than 1 per 5000 plants. U.S. Plant Variety Protection under the Plant Variety Act, Public Law 91–577 was awarded for Cheniere in 2004 (PVP no. 200400114). Application for a utility patent for this cultivar has been made to the United States patent office (Serial number 10/712,896; Filed 13 Nov. 2003). Breeder and Foundation seed of Cheniere will be maintained by the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station, Rice Research Station, 1373 Caffey Road, Rayne, LA 70578. Requests for seed must be made to the corresponding author until 20 yr from the date of release by Louisiana State University Agricultural Center (2002), at which time seed will also be available from the NPGS.