TITLE:
Preliminary Phenotypic and SNP-Based Molecular Characterization of Maize (Zea mays L.)-Mexicana (Zea mays SSP. Mexicana) Introgression Lines under Inbred Background of 48-2
AUTHORS:
Abdoul Raouf Sayadi Maazou, Ju Qiu, Ling Ai, Mohammad G. Arabzai, Mengya Qian, Hameed Gul, Xuemei Du, Fangyu Xing, Jiarui Yan, Keyi Zhang, Ziqi Zhang, Qiannan Ma, Tianhui Huang, Hong Duan, Qianlin Xiao, Zhizhai Liu
KEYWORDS:
Maize (Zea mays L.), Mexicana (Zea mays SSP. Mexicana), Introgression Lines, Phenotypic Characterization, Molecular Characterization
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.12 No.7,
July
27,
2021
ABSTRACT: Wild relatives possess potential genetic diversity
for maize (Zea mays L.) improvement.
Characterization of maize-mexicana introgression lines (ILs) is of great value to diversify the genetic base and
improve the maize germplasm. Four maize-mexicana IL generations, i.e. BC1, BC2, BC3,
and RIL, were constructed under the elite inbred background of 48-2, elite
inbred line that is widely used in maize breeding in Southwestern China, and
were phenotyped in different years and genotyped with 56110 SNPs. The results
indicated that 48-2 had higher phenotypic performances than all the
characterized ILs on most of the agronomic traits. Compared with other ILs, BC2
individuals exhibited more similar performance to 48-2 on most traits and
possessed the highest kernel ratio (66.5%). Population structure and principal
component analysis indicated that BC3 individuals gathered closer to 48-2 and
exhibited the lowest mexicana-introgression
frequency (0.50%), while BC2 (29.06%) and RIL (18.52%) showed higher
introgression frequency. The high level of genetic diversity observed in the
maize-mexicana ILs demonstrated that Z. mays ssp. mexicana can serve as a
potential source for the enrichment of maize germplasm.