Rice stem at early stage growth: Control vs.Chromosome segment substitution lines (SLs) from a cross the Koshihikari (japonica) and Habataki (indica)

By performing QTL mapping using 82 backcross inbred lines (BILs) of the Koshihikari (japonica) and Habataki (indica) cultivars for the rice initial growth, we identified two QTLs, qEPD1 and qEPD2, responsible for modulating plant height and/or leaf sheath length. To narrow down the number of candidate genes of each QTL, we conducted transcriptional profiling using RNAs isolated from the vegetative stem of Koshihikari and its two substituted lines (SL) with the Habataki qEPD1 or qEPD2 allele. Expression profiling with the rice 44K-Agilent microarray (Agilent-028517) was conducted using RNAs extracted from the 30-day-old vegetative stem of the corresponding lines. Each dataset was obtained from three biological replicates.