Genetic loci regulating arsenic content in rice grains when grown flooded or under alternative wetting and drying irrigation.

This study has identified a number of novel QTLs for arsenic accumulation, as well as cultivars that consistently accumulate less arsenic over multiple field traits. The use of a haplotype clustering approach after GWA mapping has allowed for the effect, in terms of arsenic accumulation, to be determined for cultivars that share similar genomic sequence. Allocating nine high yielding Bangladeshi cultivars to these clusters has identified the potential of utilising these QTLs in breeding programmes; for example, incorporation of the QTL on chromosome 5 should decrease grain arsenic in elite high yielding Bangladeshi cultivars by 10% in all high yielding cultivars studied.