Mapping of the Reduced Culm Number Trait in Rice (Oryza sativa L.) rcn10(t) Mutant

In rice, tillering is an important trait determining yield. To study tillering at the agricultural and molecular aspects, we have examined a spontaneous rice mutant that showed reduction in the number of culms. The mutant was derived from a $F^6$ line of the cross of Junambyeo*4 / IR72. It could produce, on average, 4 tillers per hill in the paddy field while wild-type plants usually have 15. Except the reduced culm numbers, they also show pale green phenotypes. The phenotypes of this mutant were co-segregated as the monogenic Mendelian ratio (${\chi}^b=0.002$, p=0.969). In order to locate a gene responsible for the rcn phenotype, the mutant with the japonica genetic background was crossed with Milyang21 of the indica background. Bulked segregant analysis was used for rapid determination of chromosomal location. Three SSR markers (RM551, RM8213, and RM16467) on chromosome 4 were genetically associated with the mutant phenotype. Each of the 217 $F_2$ plants was genotyped with simple sequence length polymorphisms. The data showed that RM16572 on chromosome 4 was the closest marker that showed perfect co-segregation among the $F_2$ population. We suggest the new rcn gene studied here name as $rcn10^t$ because there was no report which exhibit a rcn phenotype with a pleiotropic effect of pale green (chlorophyll deficiency), and mapped at same position on chromosome 4.