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Cold tolerance in field conditions, its inheritance, agronomic performance and genetic structure of maize lines divergently selected for germination at low temperature

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Abstract

Given the importance of early cold tolerance in maize (Zea mays L.), we previously conducted a divergent selection for low (L) and high (H) cold tolerance at germination. The source population was the F2 of B73 × IABO78 single cross. Selection was first conducted as recurrent selection (four cycles) and then in inbreeding (three generations). Ten lines were finally selected for L and ten for H; these lines were then evaluated to investigate: (i) their field cold tolerance in the early autotrophic phase and the relationship with the cold tolerance expressed at emergence and in the heterotrophic phase; (ii) the inheritance of these cold tolerance traits; (iii) their agronomic performance as lines per se and as crosses; (iv) their SNP-based genetic characterization. For all cold tolerance traits, the H group of lines was superior to the L group; selection responses were often symmetric, suggesting the prevalence of additive effects. The relationship among cold tolerance traits was appreciable, suggesting a common genetic basis. Differences among testcrosses were largely due to general combining ability effects and the relationship between line per se and testcross performance was high, confirming the prevalence of additive effects. Correlated responses were also obtained for agronomic traits, the H lines being superior to L lines both per se and as crosses. For SNP-marker loci, the B73 allelic frequency was greater in the H group (61.7 %) than in L group (39.7 %). Across field trials, an H line excelled for all traits, thus proving to deserve further investigations.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Drs. P. Revilla, J. Leipner and A.E. Melchinger for having provided seeds of the inbred lines EA2087, EP42, ETH-DH7 and D23. We also acknowledge Dr. S. Corneti who carried out the DNA extraction of the investigated lines and all the graduate and undergraduate students who helped us in the accomplishment of the study herein presented. We finally acknowledge two anonymous reviewers for valuable suggestions.

Funding

This study was conducted with the financial support of the University of Bologna, Grant RFO (2009–2014).

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  1. Department of Agroenvironmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Bologna, Viale Fanin 44, 40127, Bologna, Italy

    Elisabetta Frascaroli & Pierangelo Landi

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  1. Elisabetta Frascaroli
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Correspondence to Elisabetta Frascaroli.

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Frascaroli, E., Landi, P. Cold tolerance in field conditions, its inheritance, agronomic performance and genetic structure of maize lines divergently selected for germination at low temperature. Euphytica 209, 771–788 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-016-1680-8

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