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Exploitation of Elite Maize ( Zea mays L.) Germplasm across Maturity Zones
Author(s) -
Steinhoff Jana,
Liu Wenxin,
Maurer Hans Peter,
Würschum Tobias,
C. Friedrich H. Longin,
Ranc Nicolas,
Reif Jochen C.
Publication year - 2012
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/cropsci2011.10.0533
Subject(s) - biology , germplasm , quantitative trait locus , diallel cross , agronomy , zea mays , epistasis , hybrid , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , gene
Transfer of elite lines across maturity zones is important because it facilitates the exploitation of indirect selection gain. The main goal of this study was to investigate strategies to guide the transfer of elite lines from Southern Europe to the U.S. Corn Belt. Testcrosses of progenies of six biparental populations derived from a diallel cross of four Southern European elite lines were evaluated together with adapted commercial checks in 10 Southern European and six U.S. Corn Belt environments in 2007 for grain yield and grain moisture when crossed to adapted testers. Moreover, the 788 genotypes were fingerprinted with 857 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers and multiple‐line cross quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping was performed. Some testcross progenies in the U.S. Corn Belt reached grain yield performance comparable to the best check, which suggests that direct use of Southern European lines is promising. The success of using grain yield or grain moisture data determined in Southern Europe to preselect Southern European lines for use in the U.S. Corn Belt is limited. Moreover, we observed a complex genetic architecture of adaptation with absence of major QTL and strong QTL by background interactions. We found evidence that epistasis influences adaptation, additionally hampering the success of marker‐guided transfer of germplasm from Southern Europe to the U.S. Corn Belt.