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The genetic basis of flecking and its relationship to disease resistance in the IBM maize mapping population

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Abstract

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In this paper, we determine the genetic architecture controlling leaf flecking in maize and investigate its relationship to disease resistance and the defense response.

Abstract

Flecking is defined as a mild, often environmentally dependent lesion phenotype observed on the leaves of several commonly used maize inbred lines. Anecdotal evidence suggests a link between flecking and enhanced broad-spectrum disease resistance. Neither the genetic basis underlying flecking nor its possible relationship to disease resistance has been systematically evaluated. The commonly used maize inbred Mo17 has a mild flecking phenotype. The IBM-advanced intercross mapping population, derived from a cross between Mo17 and another commonly used inbred B73, has been used for mapping a number of traits in maize including several related to disease resistance. In this study, flecking was assessed in the IBM population over 6 environments. Several quantitative trait loci for flecking were identified, with the strongest one located on chromosome 6. Low but moderately significant correlations were observed between stronger flecking and higher disease resistance with respect to two diseases, southern leaf blight and northern leaf blight and between stronger flecking and a stronger defense response.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Major Goodman and the Maize Genetics Cooperation Stock Center for provision of seed and David Rhyne, Ed Durren, Greg Marshall, Shannon Sermons, and Donna Stephens for their help with fieldwork. We thank Steve Moose for allowing us to observe and take lesion mimic data from his field trials and Steve Szalma for helpful discussions. We thank Cathy Herring and the staff of Central Crops in Clayton NC for maintaining the field trials in NC. This work was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service, NC State University, Purdue University, and by National Science Foundation Grant 0822495. This paper is dedicated to the memory of Steve Szalma.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, Lilly Hall, West Lafayette, IN, 47907-2054, USA

      Vijay Vontimitta & Gurmukh Johal

    2. Department of Plant Pathology, NC State University, 2574 Thomas Hall, Raleigh, NC, 27695-7616, USA

      Bode A. Olukolu & P. J. Balint-Kurti

    3. Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA

      Bryan W. Penning

    4. USDA-ARS Plant Science Research Unit, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA

      P. J. Balint-Kurti

    5. Department of Crop Science, NC State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695-7620, USA

      Bode A. Olukolu

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    1. Vijay Vontimitta
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    Correspondence to P. J. Balint-Kurti.

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    Communicated by J. Yan.

    Vijay Vontimitta and Bode A Olukolu contributed equally to this work.

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    Vontimitta, V., Olukolu, B.A., Penning, B.W. et al. The genetic basis of flecking and its relationship to disease resistance in the IBM maize mapping population. Theor Appl Genet 128, 2331–2339 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-015-2588-8

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-015-2588-8

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