Abstract
The breeding of rice varieties with higher levels of vitamins and the ability to resist disease has become one of the most important goals in plant breeding programmes. In this experiment, 24 F-1s were produced through Line x Tester and evaluated with their parents for genotypic variation. Both general combining ability (GCA) variances were highly significant for all twelve characters studied in F-1 generations. The most promising hybrid combinations were IRBL3-CP4 x Eg-N-9, IRBL5-M x sakhal01, Sakhal06 x Al-Ahsa Type1, and Sakhal06 x Al-Ahsa Type2, and these could be involved in breeding programmes. The protein level and nutrient elements; zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe) revealed that the two Saudi varieties; Al-Ahsa Type1, Al-Ahsa Type2 and Egyptian variety, Eg-N-7, had the highest value of protein, Zn and Fe. Therefore, ten genotypes out of fifteen were cultured in vitro to induce somaclonal variation. Seven genotypes were successfully induced callus and somaclonal were collected and evaluated for quantitative trait such as; duration, leaf blast, plant height, number of panicles/plant, 1000-grain weight, number of grains/panicle, grain yield and number of sterile grains/panicle and compared with the parents. The differences between the lines were remarkably slight compared with their parents: these lines could be included in breeding programmes as a genetic resource. Regarding the identification of blast- resistant genes, marker assisted-breeding Al-Ahsa Type1 and Al-Ahsa Type2 varieties had different blast-resistant genes. The finding of the study may help development of nutrient-rich and blast-resistant varieties of rice. (C) 2018 Friends Science Publishers