Abstract
Characteristics of a multiline variety composed of blast resistance isogenic lines “Koshihikari BLs”, bred in Niigata, were evaluated and compared with those of the original variety, Koshihikari for similarity of agronomic character, blast resistance and DNA finger print pattern. No significant differences were found in heading date, maturing date, culm length, ear length, number of panicle, lodging degree, grain yield, 1,000-grain weight, grain quality, overall eating quality, value of Mido and protein content of brown rice. On the other hand, the multiline variety was clearly superior to Koshihikari in resistance to panicle blast. These findings indicate that the multiline variety does not differ from Koshihikari in agronomic characters , and can be grown with reduced use of pesticides. In the DNA finger print analysis, the number of DNA bands was 5 for the multiline variety, but 3 for Koshihikari, indicating that the finger print analysis was a useful tool for distinguishing between the multiline variety and Koshihikari.
