BIOLOGICAL AND AGRONOMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF FOUR HOMOZYGOUS LINES DERIVED FROM LOW PHYTIC ACID MUTATION AND FERRITIN TRANSGENE

Four representative homozygous lines(Fer34-HIPj1-1,Fer34-HIPj1-2,Fer65-HIPj2-1 and Fer65-HIPj2-2) that had significantly higher iron contents obtained from anther culture of the F_1 plants derived from the crosses between ferritin transgenic lines(Fer34 and Fer65) and low phytic acid mutants(HIPj1-2 and HIPj2-1),were employed to study the biological variations as compared to the controls Xiushui 11 and Xiushui 110.The results showed that the four pure lines showed a slower germination rate and growth rate from seedling to early filling stages than the control.Although these differences gradually became smaller in the growth process,the final grain yield per plant was still lower of the pure lines than that of the control.In addition,it was found that the content and composition of chlorophyll in the leaves at the adult stage were almost the same as the control,but their photosynthetic rates were higher than the control.Further studies are necessary to reveal whether the photosynthetic characteristics were caused by the ferritin transgene or by the low phytic acid mutation.