Effects of Different Combinations of Wx and ALK Main Alleles on Rice Grain Quality

【Objective】Rice eating and cooking qualities are mainly controlled by two key genes, Wx and ALK. There are multiple alleles of both genes among rice cultivars. In this study, our aim is to clarify the effects of the main allelic variation combinations of Wx and ALK genes on rice grain quality.【Method】Three main alleles of Wx (Wxa, Wxb and wx) and two of ALK (ALKa and ALKc) were combined within a series of near-isogenic lines (NILs) in the japonica Nipponbare (Nip) background. The effects of different allelic combinations on grain quality were determined by measuring the physical and chemical characteristics of NILs.【Result】Gelatinization temperature (GT) was regulated by the major gene ALK and the minor gene Wx. Under the same ALK allele background, there was no significant difference in GT between rice lines carrying wx and Wxb alleles, but the GT of Nip-Wxa rice lines was significantly lower than that of Nip-Wxb and Nip-wx. The starch viscosity was greatly affected by the combination of Wx and ALK alleles. The breakdown value of Nip-Wxa rice line was lower and the setback value was higher (lower tasting value) than those of Nip-Wxb and Nip-wx. Under the same Wx allele background, ALK allelic variation mainly affected the pasting temperature of RVA curve, but had little effect on breakdown value and setback value. Nip-Wxa/ALKa and Nip-Wxa/ALKc rice grains had poor tasting value due to the high AC and breakdown value and low GC. But the protein content in above two NILs was higher than other rice lines. Nip-wx/ALKa and Nip-Wxb/ALka rice grains had better tasting value of hot cooked and cooled cooked rice due to the moderate AC, GC and protein content, as well as lower GT. Although the GT of Nip-Wxb/ALKc grains was higher, the moderate AC and high GC of this line resulted in a slight decrease in the tasting value of cooled cooked rice compared with hot cooked rice. The tasting value of hot cooked rice of Nip-wx/ALKc rice remained the same as those of Nip-wx/ALKa, Nip-Wxb/ALKa and Nip-Wxb/ALKc, but the tasting value of cooled rice decreased dramatically because of its high GT. 【Conclusion】Amylose content (AC) and gel consistency (GC) were mainly controlled by Wx gene; while ALK gene had no significant effect on AC, but a slight effect on GC.