Premium
Genetic Variation in Quantitative Characters in Maize Inbred Lines, I. Variation Among and Within Corn Belt Seed Sources of Six Inbreds 1
Author(s) -
Higgs R. L.,
Russell W. A.
Publication year - 1968
Publication title -
crop science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.76
H-Index - 147
eISSN - 1435-0653
pISSN - 0011-183X
DOI - 10.2135/cropsci1968.0011183x000800030025x
Subject(s) - inbred strain , biology , selfing , strain (injury) , genetic variation , veterinary medicine , agronomy , horticulture , genetics , gene , population , anatomy , medicine , demography , sociology
The genetic variation among and within strains of long‐time inbred lines of maize was investigated. Six inbred lines and male fertility restorer versions of four of these lines were obtained in 1963 from Corn Belt foundation seed stock organizations and the Iowa Agricuture Experiment Station. Significant variation was found among nonrestorer strains, restorer strains, and strain X strain crosses for nearly all of the eight quantitatively inherited characters studied. The Iowa non‐restorer and restorer strains (maintained by ear‐to‐row method) were significantly less vigorous than the other non‐restorer and restorer strains (maintained by selfing and bulking) for many comparisons. The restorer strain versions excelled over the nonrestorer versions from the same seed source in many comparisons. Vigor of strain X strain crosses was greater than the vigor of their parental strains for 34 of 35 comparisons where differences were significant. Variation within the Iowa WF9 strain was generally less than within the other four WF9 strains, which indicated that the ear‐to‐row procedure was more effective in maintaining a low degree of genetic variability within an inbred line. The time span between the year of release of a particular inbred and the commencement of this study showed little relationship with the variation among strains within the inbreds.