QTL Mapping Integrated with BSA-Seq Analysis Identifies a Novel Gene Conferring Resistance to Brown Planthopper from Common Wild Rice (Oryza rufipogon Griff.)

Abstract The brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens Stål, BPH) is one of the most destructive rice pests worldwide. GXU202 is a germplasm of common wild rice (Oryza rufipogon Griff. ) with high resistance to the BPH. In this study, the genetic analysis indicated that the BPH resistant phenotype of GXU202 is controlled by a major gene. Through the combination and comparison of QTL linkage and BSA-seq analyses, a novel gene locus BPH41 conferring BPH resistance was identified, which has been finely mapped to a 114-kb region delimited by D01031 and W1 on chromosome 4. The markers D01031 and D01045 showed high accuracy in predicting resistant phenotypes to BPH, suggesting their reliability for marker-assisted selection of BPH41 in breeding for BPH resistant rice varieties. The present identification of BPH41 will establish a foundation for further map-based cloning and functional characterization of the gene.