Biotech Updates

Novel QTL qAC2 Controls Amylose Content in Rice

March 18, 2015

Amylose content of the rice (Oryza sativa L.) endosperm affects eating quality of cooked rice. Seeds of japonica rice cultivar Kuiku162 have low amylose content (AC) and good eating quality. The team of Yoshinobu Takeuchi of the NARO Institute of Crop Science in Japan discovered a novel QTL, qAC2, which contributes to the low AC of Kuiku162.

QAC2 was mapped on the long arm of chromosome 2. The AC of a japonica cultivar was found to be lower by 1.1 % than that of the conventional Itadaki. However, the chain length distributions of amylopectin were similar in both cultivars suggesting that the low AC of the Itadaki carrying qAC2Kuiku was caused by a decrease in the actual AC and not by a difference in structure.

Read the full article on Springer Link for more information.