Genetic studies of salt tolerance in Rice (O. Sativa)

Niger's rice production has not been able to match growth in demand. The slow growth in domestic rice production has been attributed to salinity, non-adapted germplasm, and low farmer adoption of improved varieties. This study was carried out to: determine farmers' perception on influence of salinity in rice production and their preference for rice varieties in salt affected areas; identify potential sources of genes for salt tolerance from local and exotic rice germplasm; determine genetic control of salt tolerance in rice; and evaluate yield performance of early segregating generations of rice from crossing diverse parental genotypes. Leaf samples of the four parents used in the diallel were genotyped by LGC genomics, (United Kingdom) using 1896 SNPs. The results indicated that all the parents were homozygote and genetically differed from each other in terms of substitution pattern, sequences disparity and divergence and base composition. Two hundred SNPs were polymorphic and were selected for early generations screening for salt tolerance.