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Selection for Early Flowering Results in Simultaneous Selection for Reduced Nuclear DNA Content in Maize
Author(s) -
Rayburn A. Lane.,
Dudley J. W.,
Biradar D. P.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
plant breeding
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.583
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1439-0523
pISSN - 0179-9541
DOI - 10.1111/j.1439-0523.1994.tb00690.x
Subject(s) - biology , selection (genetic algorithm) , population , grain yield , nuclear dna , genome , agronomy , horticulture , botany , genetics , gene , demography , artificial intelligence , sociology , computer science , mitochondrial dna
Several studies have indicated a possible link between genome size and earliness in maize. In this study, an original maize population, South African photo‐period insensitive maize composite II (C 0 ) and several selected generations were analyzed for days to flowering, plant height, ear height, and yield. The selection criterion was earliness. Over six cycles of selection a 14‐day decrease in days to flowering was obtained with no significant reduction in grain yield. In the initial population (C 0 ) and the most advanced selection (C 6 ) 101 plants were analyzed for nuclear DNA content. A significant decrease in the mean nuclear DNA content of the C 0 population (102 AU) was observed with respect to the C 0 population (105 AU). This reduction was the result of a decrease in frequency of plants in the C 6 population with large genome sizes. Therefore it was concluded that selection for earliness resulted in selection against plants with large genome sizes. Hence, the nucleotype of a maize plant can be modified by selection such as early flowering time.