Association mapping for important agronomic traits in core collection of rice (Oryza sativa L.) with SSR markers

Mining elite genes within rice landraces is of importance for the improvement of cultivated rice. An association mapping for12 agronomic traits was carried out using a core collection of rice consisting of 100 landraces (Panel 1) with 44 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Our results showed that (1) 76significant (P, 0.05) trait-marker associations were detected using mixed linear model (MLM) within Panel 1 in two years, among which 32% were identical with previously mapped QTLs, and 11 significant associations had.10% explained ratio of genetic variation; (2) A total of seven aforementioned trait-marker associations were verified within Panel 2 and 3 when using a general linear model (GLM) and 55 SSR markers of the 76 significant trait-marker associations.