Off-type rice plants occurring in farm fields cause yield loss due to competition with cultivated rice, in addition to hindering field management and harvest work. This study aimed to observe the agronomic characteristics and trace the origins of off-type rice plants using molecular markers. A total of 116 rice accessions, comprising 35 off-type plants collected from Korean farm fields, 19 Korean commercial cultivars, 12 Korean land races, and 50 weedy rice collections, were phenotyped and genotyped using selected SSR and Subspecies Specific (SS)-STS markers. The results showed that the plant height, culm length, and leaf length of off-type rice plants were larger than those of cultivated rice, which is the typical phenotype of weedy rice. However, off-type plants were highly sterile, as opposed to weedy rice, which were highly fertile. Genotype analysis with SSR and SS-STS markers revealed that off-type rice plants were heterozygous at most of the tested marker loci, suggesting that the off-type rice plants may have originated from natural outcrossing. The genotypes of off-type rice plants were closely related to both weedy and cultivated rice, and the phylogenetic analysis revealed that the relationship of the clustered group of offtype rice plants is intermediate between Indica type weedy rice and Japonica type commercial varieties. These results suggested that off-type rice plants collected in Korean farm fields might have originated from natural outcrossing between Indica type weedy rice and the cultivated Japonica type commercial varieties.

Frequent occurrence of off-type plants in a given cultivar has been a serious problem in both breeder's and farmer's fields. An experiment was designed to examine the differences in rate of occurrence of off-type plants among Tongil-type cultivars (high yielding cultivars derived from indica/japonica hybridization) from which the possible cause of higher occurrence of off-type plant in a specific cultivar was deduced. Among five Tongil-type cultivars examined for morphological variant in the field, only one cultivar, Dasanbyeo, had off-type plants. When analyzed with SSR markers, off-type plants showed different band patterns from original cultivar, having several extra bands in addition to cultivar-specific band, suggesting that off-type plants were originated from Dasanbyeo, rather than originated from mixing or mishandling of seed materials with other cultivars. The possible cause of off-type occurrence seems to be natural pollination with other cuItivars adjacent to the original cultivar during seed multiplication. This was supported from the observation that self-crossed progeny of the off type plants showed a wide range of variation of agronomic traits which could not be observed when there was a smaller introduction of genes to the fixed germplasm as happened in the case of cultivar mutation. Another evidence supported this idea that Dasanbyeo showed much of difference in floral organ and behavior to other cultivar to be subjected to higher out-crossing than other cultivars examined.

종실 등의 특성을 기준으로 분류한 7가지 벼 이형주군의 변이와 분리양상은 다음과 같다. 1. Esterase 동위효소 분석에서 장립적미군은 1과 3 esterase isozyme zymogram(EIZ), 장립메성군은 1, 3 및 7 EIZ로 분류할 수 있었다. 2. 극만생 불임군은 EIZ가 1, 2, 1+2, 5, 6, 5+6, 7, 8, 7+8 및 12로 다양하게 분리되었다. 3. EIZ가 1인 장립적미군이 3 EIZ인 장립적미군에 비해 간장이 길고 현미의 장폭비가 낮았다. 4. EIZ가 3인 장립메성군은 1이나 7 EIZ인 장립메성군에 비해 간장이 길고 수장이 짧고 분얼수가 많고 현미의 장폭비가 낮으며 수당 립수가 적었다.

This study was carried out to investigate the characteristics of shattering habit and germination of offtype rice plants collected in Korea which were classified into seven groups based on grain characteristics. In the long-grain red rice group, the short-grain red rice group, the long-grain normal rice group, and the long-grain waxy rice group, the tensile strength of grain and primary rachis branch was relatively low and the fiber cell of the primary rachis branch was short. Characteristics of shattering-related traits and germination in relation to grain and esterase isozyme zymogram type of off-type rice plants. In most lines of the extremely late and sterile rice group, the tensile strength of grain was low, while that of primary rachis branch was high, and the fiber cell was long. However, in the type 1 esterase isozyme zymogram(EIZ) lines among the long-grain normal rice group and the type 6 and 5+6 EIZ plants among the extremely late and sterile rice group, the tensile strength of grain was relatively higher. The long-grain waxy rice group and the type 3 EIZ lines among the long-grain red rice group, showed higher germinability than did cultivars which are known to germinate well even in low-temperature. The other off-type rice group, except for the short-grain waxy rice group and type 1 and 7 EIZ lines among the long-grain normal rice group, had higher germination speed than that of the cultivars.

경종조건에 따른 벼 이형주의 발생양상과 특성은 다음과 같다. 1.벼 이형주의 발생량은 종자의 자가 채종년수가 증가할수 록 많았고, 직파재배 포장에서 이앙재배 포장보다 2배 가량 많았다. 2. 재배벼의 재배포장에 장립적미와 단립적미를 인위적으로 산파 하였을 때 담수표면산파 재배에서 기계이앙 재배보다 발생량이 많고 간장이 길고 주당 유효경수가 많았으며, 장립적미가 단립적미보다 이런 특성들을 많이 지녔다. 3. 이앙재배 포장에서 이형주가 재배벼의 포기 밖에서 발생하는 비율은 농가관행재배의 경우 0∼6%인 반면, 장립적미와 단립적미를 인위적으로 산파하였을 때는 70.6∼91.1% 이기 때문에 농가포장에서 발생하는 이형주군의 대부분은 종자흔입에 의해 발생하는 것으로 보아진다

농가포장에서 발생하는 벼 이형주군별 발생포장 비율과 발생량 및 형질특성은 다음과 같다. 1. 우리나라의 지역별 발생포장 비율은 남서부, 남동부, 중부지방 순 이었고, 발생량은 남부지방이 중부지방보다 많았다. 2. 우점 이형주군은 단립적미군, 극만생 불임군, 장립적미군 순이었고, 장립적미군은 전남과 경남, 극만생 불임군은 전북, 단립적미군은 나머지 지역에서 우점하였다. 3. 대부분 이형주군의 간장은 인근 농가의 재배벼보다 길었는데, 특히 장립적미군과 단립적미군이 길었다. 4. 수당 영화수는 이형주군이 재배벼보다 많은 경향이었는데, 특히 극만생 불임군과 장립메성군이 많았다. 그러나 이형주군들은 대체로 불임이 심했다.