Mining for Glyphosate-Resistant Genes in Rice Genotypes of the Philippines

Abstract
This study aimed to identify and characterize rice genotypes possibly possessing glyphosate-resistant genes, promoting the ability to withstand non-selective, systemic herbicides. The field establishment was based on alpha lattice design replicated into two with a plot size of 2 x 10 rows. All crop management practices followed the PalayCheck System®. At 14 DAT, the glyphosate-based herbicide (Round-up) was directly applied in rice plants. Survival and severity percentage were recorded from 4days to 20 days after herbicide application when the rice plants were observed reacting to the application while agronomic parameters were gathered at maturity stage. Out of one hundred rice genotypes, only 12 exhibited moderate to strong resistance to glyphosate-based herbicide while other genotypes stunted and wilted to death. The 12 genotypes are as follows: Kinastila, Binundor, Dinorado, Kalipao, Inanod, Camoros, Minondoc, Innano, Zambales, Maliket (Red), Kilay, and Simmaba. Among these twelve genotypes, Zambales is the most tolerant to glyphosate herbicide with highest survival rate and low severity index followed by Kalipao, Innaano and Kilay which have moderate survival rate and low severity rate. Identified resistant genotypes were agro-morphological characterized. Zambales genotype has the tallest plant height and highest spikelet number while the superior genotypes for the number of productive tillers, panicle length and spikelet fertility were Minondoc, Simmaba and Kinastila, respectively. These results show that the genotypes being tested have a wide variation in agro-morphological traits. Ultimately, 12 genotypes were identified as tolerant to glyphosate-based herbicide. Further evaluation and characterization are still required to verify the resistance of identified genotypes. These germplasms are promising materials for future breeding and research purposes in developing non-transgenic glyphosate-resistant rice varieties. Keywords-Genotypes, glyphosate resistance, morphological diversity, severity index, Philippines