QTL MAPPING FOR SALT TOLERANCE AT REPRODUCTIVE STAGE IN RICE: A MINIREVIEW

Salt stress is one of the major abiotic stresses limiting rice production worldwide. Since the expansion of saline soil continues, there is a need to develop salt-tolerant rice varieties with high yields to ensure food security. Detecting quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for salt tolerance contributes greatly to breeding; however, limited studies have reported on the reproductive stage due to time-consuming and laborious processes. This review on QTL mapping for salt tolerance at the reproductive stage in rice shows that almost all QTLs explain small phenotypic variations scattered over the genome. Still, several QTLs were mapped in the same region on chromosomes 1, 2, and 6. The pyramiding of such QTLs is expected to improve tolerance and yield in elite varieties.