Stability of Characters of a Doubled Haploid Rice Variety, Shirayukihime

Abstract

In order to determine whether anther-derived varieties and conventional varieties behave in the same manner as theoretically assumed, the stability of the characters in a doubled haploid variety Shirayukihime, developed by anther culture of rice (Oryza sativa L.), was evaluated compared with three varieties, Koshihikari, Nipponbare and Hatsushimo, developed by conventional methods of breeding. Days to heading, culm length, panicle length and panicle number of those varieties were measured or counted generation by generation for ten years. The days from the beginning to the end of heading were not different between the doubled haploid variety and the conventional varieties. The stability of culm length and panicle length was not different among the four varieties based on the non-significant difference in their coefficients of variation (CV). The CV in culm length was found to be highly stable, as no significance was detected for year-to-year and variety-to-variety. In the CV of panicle numbers, significant differences were detected in both years and varieties, between early and late plantings. However, no significant difference was detected between the doubled haploid variety and the conventional varieties in both plantings. Therefore, the CV in the characters of Shirayukihime were not higher than those of the other varieties. These results suggest that the stability of the characters of the doubled haploid variety might not be different from those of conventional varieties. The conventional method of breeding could thus be efficiently supplemented with the anther culture method.