Advances on Transferring Elite Gene from Wild Rice Species into Cultivated Rice

There are two cultivated and twenty wild species of genus Oryza. These wild species of Oryza with 2n=24 or 48 chromosomes representing AA, BB, CC, BBCC, CCDD, EE, FF, GG and HHJJ genomes are an important reservoir of useful genes. Resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses as well as useful traits of wild species are described, and the recent advances on utilization of wild species for transferring elite gene into cultivated rice from wild species are summarized. The molecular mapping of alien genes introgressed from wild species into rice and mechanism of alien introgression as well as the prospects of utilization of wild species are also discussed.