Tagging and mapping of genes and QTLs of Nilaparvata lugens resistance in rice

The brown plant hopper, Nilaparvata lugens Stål (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) is an important pest of rice, Oryza sativa L. (Poales: Poaceae). The need for N. lugens-resistant rice varieties able to cope with stressful conditions obviously requires that breeders better comprehend the physiology and genetic control of N. lugens resistance. In spite of several good reviews recently published, an integrated vision of current information on rice resistance to N. lugens stress has been lacking. Here the most recent data on the N. lugens resistance rice varieties is presented. An inventory is included of N. lugens resistance donors available for breeding programs and a comprehensive survey of current work on gene maps, chromosomal locations, quantitative trait locus (QTL) detection and cloning as well as marker-assisted selection to introgress favorable alleles into chosen rice lines. A schematic view of the rice chromosomes on which N. lugens resistance QTLs and genes are positioned is included. The graphical gene locus of major resistance genes and QTL positions that have been detected on different chromosomes involved in N. lugens response is also presented. We highlight missing information that could help to design better N. lugens resistant varieties, and evaluate the significance of the data presented for the future of rice breeding.