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Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Vol. 13 No. 3 (2026)

Exploring the genetic wealth of Vietnamese coloured rice (Oryza sativa L.) accessions

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.11179
Submitted
7 August 2025
Published
10-09-2026 — Updated on 30-09-2026
Versions

Abstract

Coloured rice genotypes possess superior nutritional traits, meeting an increasing consumer demand for functional foods. This study evaluated 45 Vietnamese coloured rice accessions to characterise their genetic divergence using 45 simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers across 13 phenotypic and biochemical traits. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) results indicated highly significant phenotypic variation among genotypes and substantial genotype-by-environment interactions. Genetic diversity analysis revealed moderate to high polymorphism information content values ranging from 0.08–0.52 and an average of 1.79 alleles per locus. The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) results demonstrated that most of the genetic variation (85 %) resided within panels, indicating extensive intra-panel diversity. Furthermore, cluster and principal coordinates analyses (PCoA) identified three distinct genetic groups, reflecting geographical origins and complex genetic backgrounds. Notably, upland and mega rice varieties showed higher differentiation, whereas traditional rice (TR) and mega rice varieties exhibited greater genetic similarity. The study identified key markers, such as RM28561 on chromosome 12, significantly associated with anthocyanin content–43.45 % phenotypic variance explained (PVE) and 10.03 % PVE grain width (GW). Additionally, RM214 located on chromosome 1 explained up to 79 % of the variance for plant height (PH). Other markers associated with panicle length (PL), grain weight and yield per plant (YPP) were also identified, explaining up to 39.68 % of the phenotypic variance. Three promising accessions, Blau Sang, Nep Cam and Nep Do, were recommended for future biofortification breeding programs. These findings provide a valuable foundation for developing high-yielding, nutrient-rich coloured rice varieties using marker-assisted selection.

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