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A novel quantitative trait loci governs prolificacy in ‘Sikkim Primitive’ – A unique maize ( Zea mays ) landrace of North‐Eastern Himalaya
Author(s) -
Prakash Nitish R.,
Zunjare Rajkumar U.,
Muthusamy Vignesh,
Rai Mayank,
Kumar Amit,
Guleria Satish K.,
Bhatt Vinay,
Choudhary Jeetram,
Chand Gulab,
Jaiswal Sunil K.,
Bhat Jayant S.,
Hossain Firoz
Publication year - 2021
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/pbr.12924
Subject(s) - biology , quantitative trait locus , locus (genetics) , bulked segregant analysis , genetics , population , zea mays , gene mapping , chromosome , gene , agronomy , demography , sociology
‘Sikkim Primitive’ is a prolific maize landrace with five to nine ears per plant. Though the landrace was discovered in 1960s, loci governing the prolificacy was not identified. Here, a prolific inbred ‘MGUSP101’ developed from ‘Sikkim Primitive’ was crossed with two nonprolific inbreds, namely, HKI1128 and UMI1200. Two F 2:3 populations (MGUSP101 × HKI1128 and MGUSP101 × UMI1200) were evaluated at three locations. Across locations, number of ears per plant varied from 1.35 to 5.38 in MGUSP101 × HKI1128 population. Bulked‐segregant analysis coupled with targeted QTL mapping identified a major QTL (bin: 8.05) explaining 31.7% phenotypic variation amongst 145 F 2:3 individuals. The QTL was further validated in 138 F 2:3 individuals of MGUSP101 × UMI1200 (range: 1.10–4.88). The identified QTL explained 29.2% of phenotypic variance at the same interval. We designated this novel QTL as ‘ qProl‐SP‐8 . 05 ’ which has not been reported earlier. Six candidate genes responsible for prolificacy were also identified. This novel QTL can be introgressed through marker‐assisted selection for induction of prolificacy in elite maize. This is the first report of identification of locus governing prolificacy in ‘Sikkim Primitive’.