Super hybrid rice breeding is a new breeding method combining semi-dwarf breeding and heterosis breeding using germplasm and gene-environment interactions.This paper reviews the breeding strategies of super hybrid rice breeding in China,focusing on the utilization of heterosis of indica and japonica subspecies,construction of ideal plant architecture and pyramiding of disease resistant genes in restorer lines.To develop super hybrid rice,considerable effort should be made to explore genes related with high yield,good quality,resistance to pests and diseases,tolerance to stresses.Molecular breeding methods in combination with crossing techniques should be adopted in super hybrid rice breeding.
Genetic improvement is one of the most effective strategies to prevent rice from blast and bacterial blight （BB） diseases, the two most prevalent diseases jeopardizing rice production. Rice hybrids with dural resistance to blast and BB are needed for sustainable production of food. An incomplete diallele design resulted in 25 crosses between five blast and five BB resistant germplasm accessions. Only one pair of parents, DH146 ×TM487, showed polymorphism for all the markers to identify one blast resistance gene Pi25 and three BB resistance genes, Xa21, xa13 and xa5, thus it was used in the marker-assisted selection （MAS）. F2 individuals of DH146× TM487 were genotyped using flanking markers of RM3330 and sequence tagged site （STS） marker SA7 for Pi25. The resistant F2 plants with Pi25 were used for pyramiding BB resistance genes Xa21, xa13 and xa5 identified by the markers pTA248, RM264 and RM153, respectively in subsequent generations. Finally, after selection for agronomic traits and restoration ability among 12 pyramided lines, we acquired an elite restorer line, R8012 including all four target genes （Pi25＋Xa21＋xa13＋xa5）. Hybrid Zhong 9NR8012 derived from the selected line showed stronger resistance to blast and BB, and higher grain yield than the commercial checks uniformally in experimental plots, 2007 state-wide yield trial and 2008 nation-wide yield trial. This study provides a paradigmatic example to show that MAS is a practically feasible tool in effectively pyramiding multiple resistance genes. The resultant restoring line and its hybrid would play an important role in securing rice production in China.
