Progress on inheritance and gene cloning for rice grain quality in Jiangsu province

In China, rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a major cereal crop of great importance maintaining the food security and sustainable agricultural development. Jiangsu is one of the main provinces for rice production. After more than 40 years of development, the yield and quality of rice grain have made great progress. Rice grain quality is a complex trait involving production, processing, marketing and consumption of the grain. In this review, we summarize the progress on the genetic basis of main grain quality traits in the rice variety breeding in Jiangsu province and point out the achievement of each milestone. With a focus on the genetic regulation of grain appearance, eating and cooking quality and nutritional quality, we describe the classic genetic rules and molecular basis of rice grain quality traits and review the function of major genes that regulate corresponding traits. The genetics and improvement of grain quality achieved in Jiangsu province was highlighted on the domestic and international rice breeding programs. In particular, with the advance of breeding conception in terms of functional genomics and genetic regulatory networks, the specific molecular design for grain quality improvement will be the future direction of rice genetic breeding program of Jiangsu Province.