A new dominant earliness character of CMS line Zaoxian A and its application value in rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Summary A distant cross between a maintainer Zhenshan 97B and an early maturing F₂ palnt of O. longistaminata x O. rufipogon was made in 1985, and a new CMS line Zaoxian A was bred in 1989 through continuous backcross of new maintainer plants derived from the distant cross to the leading CMS line Zhenshan 97A. Several experiments were carried out in Sichuan during 1990–1992, to analyze the inheritance of earliness of Zaoxian A and its application value to hybrid rice production. The results showed that Zaoxian A was as early-maturing as Zhenshan 97A, the earliness of Zaoxian A was incompletely dominant to the lateness of restorer lines, and was different from the earliness of Zhenshan 97A which was suppressed by the lateness of restorer lines. The F₁ hybrids between Zaoxian A and late maturing restorers combined the early maturity and high yielding capacity, and significantly outyielded the provincial and national checks with same or longer growth duration, because the larger genetic distance between early and late maturing ecotypes remained unchanged and the new earliness could express in F₁ generation. Therefore, the new dominant earliness character of Zaoxian A could enhance the regional and seasonal adaptability of rice. It is also valuable to hybrid rice production and the formation of new cropping systems with high yielding capacity and high economical profit.