These are entries in the panel from USDA/Cornell for use on the high-density rice array (HDRA) comprised of 700K single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). The HDRA represented the most densely populated genotyping array available for any organism at that time, based on the number of SNPs/kb interrogated across the genome. The value of these resources for genome-wide association studies (GWAS) was explored using grain length as the phenotype, and use numerous analytical techniques to identify significant associations that uncover both major and minor QTLs. Distinct advantages of cross-population mapping were demonstrated, gaining power by directly accounting for large effect alleles from within the mapping model. It was shown how this may lead to the identification of population-specific haplotypes, which are of particular value to the plant breeder.

McCouch et al 2016, Open access resources for genome-wide association mapping in rice, Nature Comm. 10.1038/ncomms10532