[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-86649-en":3,"doc-seo-86649-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},86649,687197207057,"Sage","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0",8,"Research & Report","Marker Assisted Improvement of Drought Tolerance in Short Duration Rice Cultivars of Northeast India","Rice (Oryza sativa L.) underpins food security globally and in India, yet Assam cultivation faces yield penalties from recurring biotic and abiotic stresses, with drought in the Ahu (pre-kharif) season being a major limitation. A marker-assisted backcross breeding program used the susceptible cultivar ‘Kolong’ and the tolerant donor ‘IR-64 drought’. Three SSR markers enabled foreground selection, and two BC2F4 lines—Kolong × IR-64 drought-7 and -8—showed early flowering, 100–110 day duration, higher water-limited grain yields, and substantial recurrent genome recovery, indicating promising pre-release Ahu materials.","Cereal Research Communications  \n[https://doi.org/10.1007/s42976-026-00838-5](https://doi.org/10.1007/s42976-026-00838-5)  \nRESEARCH  \nMarker assisted improvement of drought tolerance in short duration rice cultivars of Northeast India  \nAmrit Tamuly1 · Sunita Munda2 · Rahul K. Verma2 · Jyoti Lekha Borah3 · Joli Dutta4 · Purna K. Barua1 ·  \nMahendra K. Modi5 · Pradip C. Dey6 · Sanjay K. Chetia7  \nReceived: 24 February 2026 / Accepted: 30 June 2026 © Akadémiai Kiadó Zrt. 2026  \nAbstract  \nRice (Oryza sativa L.) is a principal staple cereal consumed by more than half of the world’s population and contributes over 40% of India’s total grain production. In Assam, rice is a key agricultural crop and a major component of the state’s economy; however, its productivity remains below the national average due to multiple biotic and abiotic stresses. Among these, drought stress is a predominant constraint, particularly affecting yield during the Ahu (pre-kharif) season. To mitigate drought-induced yield losses, a marker-assisted backcross breeding (MABB) program was undertaken using the short-duration, drought-susceptible cultivar ‘Kolong’ as the recurrent parent and the drought-tolerant donor ‘IR-64 drought’. Parental polymorphism analysis identified three SSR markers RM3825 (qDTY1.1), RM279 (qDTY2.2), and RM518 (qDTY4.1) which were used for foreground selection in BC₂F₂ and BC₂F₄ generations. Out of the backcross progenies, two improved BC₂F₄ lines, Kolong × IR-64 drought-7 and Kolong × IR-64 drought-8, were selected based on superior agronomic performance and drought tolerance under stress conditions. Both lines exhibited early flowering, short duration (100–110 days), and significantly improved drought tolerance with mean grain yields of 4.10 t ha⁻¹ and 4.13 t ha⁻¹, respectively, under water-limited conditions. Genome analysis using evenly distributed SSR markers revealed 83.07% and 78.48% recurrent parent genome recovery in these lines, respectively. This developed BC₂F₄ lines thus represent promising pre-release breeding materials for Ahu season cultivation in Assam. Further, multi-location trials under different agroclimatic conditions will help to validate their performance and potential release as short duration, high yielding, drought tolerant rice varieties for the North Eastern region of India, contributing to sustainable and climate-resilient rice production systems.  \nKeywords Rice · MABB · Grain yield · QTLs · Drought tolerance  \nCommunicated by Peter Skov Kristensen.  \n Sanjay K. Chetia [sanjaykumarchetia@gmail.com](sanjaykumarchetia@gmail.com)  \n1 Department of Plant Breeding & Genetics, Assam Agricultural University, Assam 785 013, India  \n2 DBT-North East Centre for Agricultural Biotechnology, Assam Agricultural University, Assam 785 013, India  \n3 AAU-Assam Rice Research Institute, Titabar, Assam 785 630, India  \n4 Department of Pathology, Assam Agricultural University, Assam 785 013, India  \n5 Assam down town University, Assam 781 026, India  \n6 Department of Crop Physiology, Assam Agricultural University, Assam 785 013, India  \n7 Directorate of Research, Assam Agricultural University, Assam 785 013, India  \nIntroduction  \nRice (Oryza sativa L.) is the principal staple food for more than half of the world’s population and remains a critical crop for food security in India, particularly in the northeastern region. The North-Eastern (NE) region of India, comprising eight states, is recognized as a biodiversity hotspot for rice, harbouring thousands of landraces with unique agronomic and adaptive traits (Verma et al. 2023) . However, rice productivity in this region is increasingly threatened by the recurrence of drought stress, especially during the reproductive stage, which significantly reduces yield (Ishimaru et al. 2022) .  \nIn the state of Assam, rice is grown chiefly in three seasons: Ahu (autumn rice), Sali (winter rice), and Boro (summer rice). Ahu season varieties are sown around March-April  \nand harvested in","cbCairLfWv2rOXsX","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCairLfWv2rOXsX","pdf",1667004,3,1,13,"English","en",105,"# Abstract\n# Introduction\n## Rice importance and regional context\n## Rice seasonal production in Assam\n## Drought impact on productivity\n## Biological complexity of drought response\n## Role of marker-assisted selection in breeding","[{\"question\":\"Which breeding strategy and parents were used to improve drought tolerance in short-duration rice?\",\"answer\":\"The study used marker-assisted backcross breeding (MABB). ‘Kolong’ served as the recurrent parent and the donor was the drought-tolerant ‘IR-64 drought’.\"},{\"question\":\"How were drought-tolerance related SSR markers used in selection?\",\"answer\":\"Parental polymorphism identified three SSR markers (RM3825, RM279, RM518) linked to QTLs, which were applied for foreground selection in BC2F2 and BC2F4 generations.\"},{\"question\":\"What performance characteristics distinguished the selected improved BC2F4 lines?\",\"answer\":\"Two lines, Kolong × IR-64 drought-7 and Kolong × IR-64 drought-8, were selected for superior agronomic performance under stress. They showed early flowering, a short 100–110 day duration, improved drought tolerance, higher mean grain yields under water-limited conditions, and high recurrent parent genome recovery.\"}]",1784238098,33,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":25,"language":24,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":86,"head_meta":88,"extra_data":90,"updated_unix":28},"marker-assisted-improvement-of-drought-tolerance-in-short-duration-rice-cultivars-of-northeast-india","",{"@graph":36,"@context":85},[37,53,68],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,48,50],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":47},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/marker-assisted-improvement-of-drought-tolerance-in-short-duration-rice-cultivars-of-northeast-india/86649/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":41,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-29","2026-07-16",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71,77,81],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"Which breeding strategy and parents were used to improve drought tolerance in short-duration rice?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"The study used marker-assisted backcross breeding (MABB). ‘Kolong’ served as the recurrent parent and the donor was the drought-tolerant ‘IR-64 drought’.","Answer",{"name":78,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":79},"How were drought-tolerance related SSR markers used in selection?",{"text":80,"@type":76},"Parental polymorphism identified three SSR markers (RM3825, RM279, RM518) linked to QTLs, which were applied for foreground selection in BC2F2 and BC2F4 generations.",{"name":82,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":83},"What performance characteristics distinguished the selected improved BC2F4 lines?",{"text":84,"@type":76},"Two lines, Kolong × IR-64 drought-7 and Kolong × IR-64 drought-8, were selected for superior agronomic performance under stress. They showed early flowering, a short 100–110 day duration, improved drought tolerance, higher mean grain yields under water-limited conditions, and high recurrent parent genome recovery.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":51,"og:type":87,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":58,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":89,"canonical":51},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":25},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":92},[93,97,101,105,110,115,120,123,128,131,135],{"id":21,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":94,"show_sort_weight":95,"slug":96},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":47,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":112,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":117,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":119},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":121,"slug":122},30,"research-report",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":127},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":126,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":130},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":132,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":133,"show_sort_weight":132,"slug":134},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":136,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":137,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":138},19,"General","general"]