Characterization and mapping of a white panicle mutant gene in rice

A spontaneous white panicle mutant was found from the F-6 progenies of an indica/japonica cross. The mutant exhibits white stripes on its basal leaves while the panicles, rachis and pedicel are milky white colored at flowering stage. Genetic analysis in an F-2 population from the cross of Zhi7/white panicle mutant indicates that the white panicle phenotype is controlled by a single recessive nuclear gene, tentatively termed as wp(t). Using microsatellite markers, the wp(t) gene was anchored between the markers of SSR101 and SSR63.9 with a map distance of 2.3 and 0.8 cM, respectively, and co-segregated with the marker of SSR17 on rice chromosome 1.