Field performance and cytology of protoplast-derived rice (Oryza sativa): high yield and low degree of variation of four japonica cultivars

Protoplast-derived rice plants of four Japanese cultivars, Nipponbare, Fujisaka 5, Norin 14 and Iwaimochi were individually cultivated in a submerged paddy field. They exhibited more stems, which resulted in more panicles than respective control plants. Other characteristics of protoplast-derived plants were (compared with controls): a slightly shorter or similar culm length, fewer spikelets per panicle, slightly lower seed fertility and similar or lighter 1,000 kernel weight. Grain yield of protoplast-derived plants was more than that of respective control plants in four cultivars. The cause of the higher yield of protoplast-derived plants seems to be mainly due to increased panicle number. Among 126 protoplast-derived plants, 1 triploid, 10 tetraploids and 1 aneuploid were found. Furthermore, 11 variants with low seed fertility showing no gross chromosomal anomalies and one plant with abnormal panicles were found. In total, about 80% of protoplastderived plants showed normal characters. The present results are encouraging for the possibility of rice breeding using protoplasts.