Genetic Analysis and Gene Mapping of a Rice Tiller Angle Mutant tac2

Tiller angle, a very essential agronomic trait, is significant in rice breeding, especially in plant type breeding. A tiller angle controlling 2 (tac2) mutant was obtained from a restorer line Jinhui 10 by ethyl methane sulphonate mutagenesis. The tac2 mutant displayed normal phenotype at the seedling stage and the tiller angle significantly increased at the tillering stage. A preliminary physiological research indicated that the mutant was sensitive to GA. Thus, it is speculated that TAC2 and TAC1 might control the tiller angle in the same way. Genetic analysis showed that the mutant trait was controlled by a major recessive gene and was located on chromosome 9 using SSR markers. The genetic distances between TAC2 and its nearest markers RM3320 and RM201 were 19.2 cM and 16.7 cM, respectively.