A Cleaved Amplified Polymorphic Sequence Marker to Detect Variation in Wx Locus Conditioning Translucent Endosperm in Rice

The translucent endosperm trait in a japonica rice variety 'Kantou 194' is controlled by a Wx-mq gene which is allelic to Wx locus by genetic analysis and allelic test. The amylose content analysis showed that an intermediate amylose content between those of glutinous and non-glutinous rice existed in endosperm of homozygous Wx-mq genotype. The slight changes of amylose content in different varieties and F1 grains with an identical Wx-mq genotype might be influenced by dissimilar genetic background. To identify the Wx-mq genotype simply and rapidly, a cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (CAPS) marker was designed. The result from the molecular detection indicated that it could be used for marker-assisted selection for low amylose content varieties in rice breeding.