Genome-Wide Association Study of Arsenic Accumulation in Polished Rice

• Published in: Genes Vol. 14; no. 12; p. 2186
• Main Authors: Dong, Zheng, Guo, Liang, Li, Xiaoxiang, Li, Yongchao, Liu, Wenqiang, Chen, Zuwu, Liu, Licheng, Liu, Zhixi, Guo, Yujing, Pan, Xiaowu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 07-12-2023
• Subjects: Arsenic; Arsenic content; Genome-wide association studies; Genomes; Grain; Plant breeding; Proteins; Quantitative trait loci; Rice; Seeds; Software; Soil pollution; GWAS; MYB transcription factor; arsenic; polished rice
• ISSN: 2073-4425; 2073-4425
• DOI: 10.3390/genes14122186

The accumulation of arsenic (As) in rice poses a significant threat to food safety and human health. Breeding rice varieties with low As accumulation is an effective strategy for mitigating the health risks associated with arsenic-contaminated rice. However, the genetic mechanisms underlying As accumulation in rice grains remain incompletely understood. We evaluated the As accumulation capacity of 313 diverse rice accessions grown in As-contaminated soils with varying As concentrations. Six rice lines with low As accumulation were identified. Additionally, a genome-wide association studies (GWAS) analysis identified 5 QTLs significantly associated with As accumulation, with
being detected in both of the experimental years. Expression analysis demonstrated that the expression of
, which encodes an MYB transcription factor, was up-regulated in the low-As-accumulation accessions compared to the high-As-accumulation accessions after As treatment. Therefore,
was selected as a candidate gene for
. These findings provide insights for exploiting new functional genes associated with As accumulation and facilitating the development of low-As-accumulation rice varieties through marker-assisted breeding.