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Genetic Analysis of the Floury Race of Maize Avati Morotî
Author(s) -
Noldin Orlando,
Revilla Pedro,
Ordás Bernardo
Publication year - 2017
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/cropsci2016.03.0153
Subject(s) - heterosis , hybrid , biology , breeding program , race (biology) , microbiology and biotechnology , selection (genetic algorithm) , plant breeding , cultivar , zea mays , agronomy , botany , artificial intelligence , computer science
Floury maize ( Zea mays L.) is widely used across America as a staple food. A single racial complex of floury maize predominates in South America. One of the most representative races of this complex is Avati Morotî, which is used by the Guarani people as a basic food supply; however, the richness of this race has not been capitalized upon in advanced breeding programs. As a first step to profit from the potential of this race for breeding programs, we performed a genetic analysis of a core collection of the Avati Morotî race from Paraguay. The varieties were crossed in three diallels of seven, seven, and six varieties selected at random from the 20 varieties. The crosses and parents of the three diallels were evaluated in three diverse locations of Paraguay during 2 yr. Differences among varietal effects were significant for all traits; heterosis and its components were often significant. Therefore, a program for development of hybrids would be feasible if the uniformity of grain at harvest is a priority. We identified crosses with significant specific heterosis, such as PAZM2035 × PARA119 or PAZM7097 × PARA117, which are appropriate for a breeding program. Alternatively, Avati Morotî could be improved by intrapopulation recurrent selection, given that the performance of the best varieties (such as PAZM14084 or PAZM9044) was not significantly worse than the best hybrids. Genotype × environment interactions were often significant, including the interactions of heterosis components × environment, suggesting that the selection of varieties or crosses for improvement should be checked for diverse environments.