Performance and Genetic Control of Quality Characters of Rice Grains in Japonica Hybrids

male sterile lines and their maintainers, and 7 restorers were used as parents and contracted 24 hybrids in order to investigate the inheritance of 9 quality characters in Japonica rice. The results showed: (1) In general, the performance of hybrid rice in each character was in the middle of both parents and no significant difference was found between hybrid and mid parent value. But the grain width and amylose content of hybrids tended to high parent, and the brown and milled rice percentage tended to low parent. (2) Significant correlations were found between hybrid rice and sterile line in head rice percentage, grain length, grain width, chalkiness score and ASV GT, and between hybrid rice and restorer in brown and milled rice percentage, chalkiness score and amylose content. Hybrids correlated significantly with mid parent values in all quality characters except ASV GT and gel consistency. (3) The genetic expression of brown, milled and head rice percentage, grain length, grain width and chalkiness score in hybrids was subject to the diploid maternal genotypes, and that of ASV GT, amylose content and gel consistency was mainly controlled by triploid endosperm genotyps. (4) The genetic effect of fertile cytoplasms among cultivars in japonica and that of fertile to sterile cytoplasms on quality characters of rice grains were not universal and varied with the characters more or less.