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Correlations and comparisons of quantitative trait loci with family per se and testcross performance for grain yield and related traits in maize

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Abstract

Simultaneous improvement in grain yield and related traits in maize hybrids and their parents (inbred lines) requires a better knowledge of genotypic correlations between family per se performance (FP) and testcross performance (TP). Thus, to understand the genetic basis of yield-related traits in both inbred lines and their testcrosses, two F 2:3 populations (including 230 and 235 families, respectively) were evaluated for both FP and TP of eight yield-related traits in three diverse environments. Genotypic correlations between FP and TP, \( \hat{r}_{\text{g}} \) (FP, TP), were low (0–0.16) for grain yield per plant (GYPP) and kernel number per plant (KNPP) in the two populations, but relatively higher (0.32–0.69) for the other six traits with additive effects as the primary gene action. Similar results were demonstrated by the genotypic correlations between observed and predicted TP values based on quantitative trait loci positions and effects for FP, \( \hat{r}_{\text{g}} \) (M FP, Y TP). A total of 88 and 35 QTL were detected with FP and TP, respectively, across all eight traits in the two populations. However, the genotypic variances explained by the QTL detected in the cross-validation analysis were much lower than those in the whole data set for all traits. Several common QTL between FP and TP that accounted for large phenotypic variances were clustered in four genomic regions (bin 1.10, 4.05–4.06, 9.02, and 10.04), which are promising candidate loci for further map-based cloning and improvement in grain yield in maize. Compared with publicly available QTL data, these QTL were also detected in a wide range of genetic backgrounds and environments in maize. These results imply that effective selection based on FP to improve TP could be achieved for traits with prevailing additive effects.

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Acknowledgments

This work was partly supported by grants provided by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2011CB100100, 2009CB118401, 2011DFA30450), Natural Science Foundation of China (U1138304) and Foundation of President of The Tianjin Academy of Agricultural Sciences (11001). We thank Dr. Matthias Frisch and two anonymous reviewers for valuable suggestions and careful corrections. We are grateful to Prof. H Friedrich Utz and Albrecht E Melchinger of University of Hohenheim for providing the PLABSTAT and PLABQTL software and their excellent advices in the data analysis, and to Prof. Xianchun Xia of Chinese Academy of Agriculture Sciences, Prof. Shoucai Wang of Chinese Agricultural University, Prof. Martin Bohn of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Prof. Edward Buckler of Cornell University for advices on data analysis and discussion, to Prof. Jiankang Wang and Dr. Huihui Li of Chinese Academy of Agriculture Sciences and Prof. Chenwu Xu of Yangzhou University for advices on data analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China

    Bo Peng, Yongxiang Li, Yang Wang, Zhizhai Liu, Yan Zhang, Weiwei Tan, Di Wang, Yunsu Shi, Yanchun Song, Tianyu Wang & Yu Li

  2. Institute of Food Crops, Xinjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Urumqi, 830000, China

    Cheng Liu & Baocheng Sun

  3. Southwest University, Chongqing, 400716, China

    Zhizhai Liu

  4. Tianjin Crops Research Institute, Tianjin, 300112, China

    Bo Peng

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  1. Bo Peng
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Correspondence to Tianyu Wang or Yu Li.

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Communicated by M. Frisch.

B. Peng, Y. Li and Y. Wang had equal contribution.

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Peng, B., Li, Y., Wang, Y. et al. Correlations and comparisons of quantitative trait loci with family per se and testcross performance for grain yield and related traits in maize. Theor Appl Genet 126, 773–789 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-012-2017-1

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