ASSOCIATION OF QUANTITATIVE TRAIT LOCI FOR PLANT HEIGHT WITH MAJOR DWARFING GENES IN RICE

Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for plant height in rice were mapped on to RFLP maps in five populations, whose sizes varied from 135 to 250. A total of 23 QTLs were located in all 12 rice chromosomes, and eight of these QTLs were shared by at least two populations. The positions of the 23 mapped QTLs were compared to the positions of 13 major dwarf ing or semi-dwarfing genes previously linked to RFLP markers. Results indicated that all 13 dwarfing or semidwarfing genes were in close pro ximity to the QTLs, providing evidence to support the hypothesis that QTLs and major genes were different alleles of the same loci.