TITLE:
Phenotypic Characterization and QTL/Gene Identification for Internode Number and Length Related Traits in Maize
AUTHORS:
Jing Li, Fengjuan Gu, Guoqiang Wang, Yingyi Zhang, Xiangling Gong, Wei Wei, Xianchuang Zhang, Lin Liu, Hameed Gul, Hong Duan, Chaoxian Liu, Qianlin Xiao, Zhizhai Liu
KEYWORDS:
Maize (Zea mays L.), Internode No., Average Internode Length, Phenotypic Characterization, Candidate Gene Discovery
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.15 No.7,
July
23,
2024
ABSTRACT: Internode number and length are the foundation to constitute plant height, ear height and the above-ground spatial structure of maize plant. In this study, segregating populations were constructed between EHel with extremely low ear height and B73. Through the SNP-based genotyping and phenotypic characterization, 13 QTL distributed on the chromosomes (Chrs) of Chr1, Chr2, Chr5-Chr8 were detected for four traits of internode no. above ear (INa), average internode length above ear (ILaa), internode no. below ear (INb), and average internode length below ear (ILab). Phenotypic variation explained (PVE) by a single QTL ranged from 6.82% (qILab2-2) to 12.99% (qILaa5). Zm00001d016823 within the physical region of qILaa5, the major QTL for ILaa with the largest PVE was determined as the candidate through the genomic annotation and sequence alignment between EHel and B73. Product of Zm00001d016823 was annotated as a WEB family protein homogenous to At1g75720. qRT-PCR assay showed that Zm00001d016823 highly expressed within the tissue of internode, exhibiting statistically higher expression levels among internodes of IN4 to IN7 in EHel than those in B73 (P Zm00001d016823 might provide novel insight into molecular mechanism beyond phytohormones controlling internode development in maize.