Polyethyleneglycol mediated rapid in vitro screening of rice (Oryza sativa L.) genotypes for drought tolerance

Abstract

Cultivation of tolerant genotypes in drought prone areas is the right option to augment productivity of rice. Thus, rapid, feasible and cost effective in vitro protocol for screening a large number of genotypes was standardized. MS medium fortified with 80 mg/L of PEG was found to be the best concentration for screening under in vitro drought situation. Tolerance index was used to classify the genotypes. Based on tolerance index of the individual seedling parameter, varieties like Annada, IET 24171, MTU 1010, Bitti-1 and Tulsibhog were classified as tolerant. Similarly, judging the mean rank score of all the seedling parameters of the genotypes IET 24171, Annada, MTU 1010, Malsira, Tulsibhog and Bitti-1 were categorized as tolerant. In these two methods of classification, IET 24171, Annada, Bitti-1, MTU 1010 and Tulsibhog were common.