Abstract
Background
Sweet corn is gaining tremendous demand worldwide due to urbanization and changing consumer preferences. However, genetic improvement in this crop is being limited by narrow genetic base and other undesirable agronomic traits that hinder the development of superior cultivars. The main requirement in this direction is the development of potentially promising parental lines. One of the most important strategies in this direction is to develop such lines from hybrid-oriented source germplasm which may provide diverse base material with desirable biochemical and agro-morphological attributes.
Methods and results
The study was undertaken to carry out morphological and biochemical evaluation of 80 early generation inbred lines (S2) of sweet corn that were developed from a cross between two single cross sweet corn hybrids (Mithas and Sugar-75). Moreover, validation of favourable recessive alleles for sugar content was carried out using SSR markers. The 80 sweet corn inbreds evaluated for phenotypic characterization showed wide range of variability with respect to different traits studied. The highest content of total carotenoids was found in the inbred S27 (34 μg g−1) followed by the inbred S65 (31.1 μg g−1). The highest content for total sugars was found in S60 (8.54%) followed by S14 (8.34%). Molecular characterization of 80 inbred lines led to the identification of seven inbreds viz., S21, S28, S47, S48, S49, S53, and S54, carrying the alleles specific to the sugary gene (su1) with respect to the markers umc2061 and bnlg1937. Comparing the results of scatter plot for biochemical and morphological traits, it was revealed that inbreds S9, S23, S27 and S36 contain high levels of total sugars and total carotenoids along with moderate values for amylose and yield attributing traits.
Conclusion
The inbred lines identified with desirable biochemical and agro-morphological attributes in the study could be utilized as source of favourable alleles in sweet corn breeding programmes after further validation for disease resistance and other agronomic traits. Consequently, the study will not only enhance the genetic base of sweet corn germplasm but also has the potential to develop high-yielding hybrids with improved quality. The inbreds possessing su1 gene on the basis of umc2061 and bnlg1937 markers were also found to possess high sugar content. This indicates the potential of these lines as desirable candidates for breeding programs aimed at improving sweet corn yield and quality. These findings also demonstrate the effectiveness of the molecular markers in facilitating marker-assisted selection for important traits in sweet corn breeding.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Hu Y, Colantonio V, Muller BS, Leach KA, Nanni A, Finegan C, Wang B, Baseggio M, Newton CJ, Juhl EM, Hislop L (2021) Genome assembly and population genomic analysis provide insights into the evolution of modern sweet corn. Nat Commun 12(1):1227
Mahato A, Shahi JP, Singh PK, Kumar M (2018) Genetic diversity of sweet corn inbreds using agro-morphological traits and microsatellite markers. 3 Biotech 8(8):1–9
USDA-NASS (2019) United States Department of Agriculture–National Agricultural Statistics Service QuickStats
USDA/HHS (2015) The report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2015, to the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Health and Human Services
Dagla MC, Gadag RN, Kumar N, Ajay B, Ram C (2014) A potential scope of sweet corn for peri-urban farmers in India. Pop Kheti 2(1):69–73
Baseggio M, Murray M, Magallanes-Lundback M, Kaczmar N, Chamness J, Buckler ES et al (2020) Natural variation for carotenoids in fresh kernels is controlled by uncommon variants in sweet corn. Plant Genome 13(1):e20008
Harjes CE, Rocheford TR, Bai L, Brutnell TP, Kandianis CB, Sowinski SG, Stapleton AE, Vallabhaneni R, Williams M, Wurtzel ET, Yan J (2008) Natural genetic variation in lycopene epsilon cyclase tapped for maize biofortification. Science 319(5861):330–333
Bray EA (1997) Plant response to water deficit. Trends Plant Sci 2:48–54
Lertrat K, Pulam T (2007) Breeding for increased sweetness in sweet corn. Int J Plant Breed Genet 1:27–30
Ojo GO, Vange T, Adeyemo MO (2020) Genetic variability for grain yield, flowering and ear traits in early and late sown full–sib families of sweet corn in Makurdi (Southern Guinea Savanna), Nigeria. Int J Plant Breed Crop Sci 7(1):661–666
Tracy WF (1997) History, genetics and breeding of super sweet (shrunken2) sweet corn. In: Janick J (ed) Plant breeding reviews, vol 14. Wiley, Hoboken, pp 189–236
Feng ZL, Liu J, Fu FL, Li WC (2008) Molecular mechanism of sweet and waxy in maize. Int J Plant Breed Genet 2:93–100
James MG, Robertson DS, Myers AM (1995) Characterization of the maize gene sugary1, a determinant of starch composition in kernels. Plant Cell 7:417
Hannah LC, Nelson OE (1976) Characterization of ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase from shrunken-2 and brittle-2 mutants of maize. Biochem Genet 14:547–560
Mehta B, Hossain F, Muthusamy V, Baveja A, Zunjare RU, Jha SK, Gupta HS (2017) Microsatellite-based genetic diversity analyses of sugary1-, shrunken2-and double mutant-sweet corn inbreds for their utilization in breeding programme. Physiol Mol Biol Plants 23(2):411–420
Tracy WF, Shuler SL, Dodson-Swenson H (2019) The use of endosperm genes for sweet corn improvement: a review of developments in endosperm genes in sweet corn since the seminal publication in Plant Breeding Reviews, Volume 1, by Charles Boyer and Jack Shannon (1984). Plant Breed Rev 43:215–241
Szymanek M, Tanas W, Kassar FH (2015) Kernel carbohydrates concentration in sugary-1, sugary enhanced and shrunken sweet corn kernels. Agric Agric Sci Proc 7:260–264
Hossain F, Nepolean T, Vishwakarma AK, Pandey N, Prasanna BM, Gupta HS (2013) Mapping and validation of microsatellite markers linked to sugary1 and shrunken2 genes in maize (Zea mays L.). J Plant Biochem Biotechnol 24(2):135–142
Chhabra R, Hossain F, Muthusamy V, Baveja A, Mehta BK, Uttamrao Zunjare R (2020) Development and validation of gene based markers for shrunken2-Reference allele and their utilization in marker-assisted sweet corn (Zea mays sachharata) breeding programme. Plant Breed 139:1135–1144
Tracy WF (1993) Sweet corn. In: Kalloo G, Bergh BO (eds) Genetic improvement of vegetable crops. Pergamon, Oxford, UK, pp 777–807
Revilla P, Anibas CM, Tracy WF (2021) Sweet corn research around the world 2015–2020. Agronomy 11(3):534
Hunsperger MH, Davis DW (1987) Effect of sugary-1 locus on plant and ear traits in corn. Crop Sci 27:1173–1176
Mehta BK, HossainF MV, Zunjare RU, Gupta SJCHS (2017) Analyzing the role of sowing and harvest time as factors for selecting super sweet (sh2sh2) corn hybrids. Indian J Genet 77(3):348–356
Dass S, Rakshit S, Singh SB, Singh R, Singh I (2016) National guidelines for the conduct of tests for distinctiveness, uniformity and stability on maize (Zea mays L.)
Mahadevan A, Sridhar K (1986) Methods in physiological plant pathology, 3rd edn. Suvakami Publications, Chennai, pp 9–11
Ranganna S (1986) Handbook of analysis and quality control for fruit and vegetable products. Tata McGraw-Hill Education, New Delhi
Juliano BO (1971) A simplified assay of milled rice amylose. Cereal Sci Today 16(10):334–360
Avaro MRA, Tong L, Yoshida T (2009) A simple and low-cost method to classify amylose content of rice using a standard color chart. Plant Prod Sci 12(1):97–99
Murray MG, Thompson WF (1980) Rapid isolation of high molecular weight plant DNA. Nucleic Acids Res 8(19):4321–4326
Little RC, Miliken GA, Stroup WW, Wolfinger RD (1996) SAS systems for mixed models. SAS Institute, Cary, NC
Perrier X, Flori A, Bonnot F (2003) Data analysis methods. In: Hamon P, Seguin M, Perrier X, Glaszmann JC (eds) Genetic diversity of cultivated tropical plants. Science Publishers, Enfield, pp 43–76
Gupta A, Amrapali S, Kumar M, Khati P, Lal B, Agrawal PK, Bhatt JC (2015) Distinctness, uniformity and stability testing in maize inbreds. Natl Acad Sci Lett 39(1):5–9
Gull A, Lone AA, Bhat MA, Sofi PA, Khan ZH, Dar ZA, Nazir A (2020) DUS characterization of sweet corn inbreds under temperate conditions. Plant Arch 20(1):2357–2362
Madhukeshwara BP, Sajjan AS (2015) Morphometric characterization of maize hybrids and their parents using DUS guidelines. Adv Res J Crop Improv 6(2):178–182
Shankar RS, Priya PB, Bhadru D, Vanisri S (2023) Assessment of genetic variation and character association among yield and yield attributing traits in sweet corn (Zea mays L. saccharata) inbred lines. Int J Environ Clim 13(10):1146–1154
Luterotti S, Kljak K (2010) Spectrophotometric estimation of total carotenoids in cereal grain products. Acta Chim Slov 57(4):781–7
Song J, Li D, He M, Chen J, Liu C (2015) Comparison of carotenoid composition in immature and mature grains of corn (Zea mays L.) varieties. Int J Food Prop 19(2):351–358
Ghada AA, Ibrahim AIA (2019) Evaluation of some Sweet corn hybrids for agronomic traits and technological parameters under different planting dates. Suez Canal Univ J Food Sci 6(1):49–63
Tosun M, Gizem C, Tonuk FA, Istipiler D (2017) Determination of sugar content of some inbred sweet corn lines and screening with SSR markers related to sugar genes. Int Plant Anim Genome XXV Conf 78(5):65–72
Hemavathy AT, Priyadharshini C (2019) Genetic parameters for quality traits in sweet corn (Zea mays L. saccharata). J Pharmacogn Phytochem 8(4):1446–1449
Wang YJ, White PJ, Pollak LM, Jane J (1993) Characterization of starch structures of 17 maize endosperm mutant genotypes with Oh43 inbred line background. Cereal Chem 70(2):171
Mir SA, Bosco SJD, Bashir M, Shah MA, Mir MM (2017) Physicochemical and structural properties of starches isolated from corn cultivars grown in Indian temperate climate. Int J Food Prop 20(4):821–832
Boyer CD, Liu KC (1985) The interaction of endosperm genotype and genetic background. Part I. Differences in chromatographic profiles of starches from non mutant and mutant endosperms. Starch-Starke 37(3):73–79
Wu Y, Campbell M, Yen Y, Wicks Z, Ibrahim AM (2009) Genetic analysis of high amylose content in maize (Zea mays L.) using a triploid endosperm model. Euphytica 166(2):155–164
Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to the Division of Genetics & Plant Breeding, SKUAST-K for their financial, technical and administrative support.
Funding
Not applicable.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.
Ethical approval
This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Usman, S.M., Khan, R.S., Shikari, A.B. et al. Unveiling the sweetness: evaluating yield and quality attributes of early generation sweet corn (Zea mays subsp. sachharata) inbred lines through morphological, biochemical and marker-based approaches. Mol Biol Rep 51, 307 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-024-09229-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-024-09229-7