Abstract
The genetic trade-offs among complex traits are often witnessed in rice, however, very little is known about the contributing genes and mechanisms to exploit in breeding programmes. Here, we aimed to understand the genetic trade-offs among disease resistance, quality, and yield traits employing genome-wide association mapping. In all, 78 common marker-trait associations (MTAs) were identified for the targeted traits. In addition, five pleiotropic MTAs, 17 tightly linked MTAs, and two pleiotropic and tightly linked MTAs were detected for various trait combinations. The majority of MTA clusters were observed for quality traits (15 clusters) followed by the combined yield and quality traits (5 clusters) while only one cluster was found for combined yield and disease resistance traits. Further, the prediction of candidate genes controlling MTA clusters by exploiting the publicly available rice genome databases, revealed D-type cyclin 3;1 and Xyloglucan endotransglucosylase were found to be responsible for controlling grain size traits. We found no significant large linkage drag blocks with major MTAs for the targeted traits indicating that the indica rice genotypes have fewer trade-offs compared to japonica. The current study provides deeper insights into the genetic trade-offs among complex traits in rice, aiding in the meticulous planning of future breeding strategies. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11032-025-01578-w.