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Dent and Flint maize diversity panels reveal important genetic potential for increasing biomass production

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Genetic and phenotypic analysis of two complementary maize panels revealed an important variation for biomass yield. Flowering and biomass QTL were discovered by association mapping in both panels.

Abstract

The high whole plant biomass productivity of maize makes it a potential source of energy in animal feeding and biofuel production. The variability and the genetic determinism of traits related to biomass are poorly known. We analyzed two highly diverse panels of Dent and Flint lines representing complementary heterotic groups for Northern Europe. They were genotyped with the 50 k SNP-array and phenotyped as hybrids (crossed to a tester of the complementary pool) in a western European field trial network for traits related to flowering time, plant height, and biomass. The molecular information revealed to be a powerful tool for discovering different levels of structure and relatedness in both panels. This study revealed important variation and potential genetic progress for biomass production, even at constant precocity. Association mapping was run by combining genotypes and phenotypes in a mixed model with a random polygenic effect. This permitted the detection of significant associations, confirming height and flowering time quantitative trait loci (QTL) found in literature. Biomass yield QTL were detected in both panels but were unstable across the environments. Alternative kinship estimator only based on markers unlinked to the tested SNP increased the number of significant associations by around 40 % with a satisfying control of the false positive rate. This study gave insights into the variability and the genetic architectures of biomass-related traits in Flint and Dent lines and suggests important potential of these two pools for breeding high biomass yielding hybrid varieties.

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Acknowledgments

We are very grateful to all who made possible the gathering of their inbred lines to our panels. In particular, Mark Millard from United States Department of Agriculture North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station (NCRPIS) of Ames, USA; Natalia de Leon from University of Wisconsin, USA; Geert Kleijer from Agroscope Changins-Wädenswil of Nyon (ETH Zurich) Switzerland; Wolfgang Schipprack from Universität Hohenheim (UH) of Eckartsweier, Germany; Rita Redaelli from Unita Di Ricerca per la Maiscoltura of Bergamo (ISC), Italy; Amando Ordás from Misión Biológica de Galicia of Pontevedra (CSIC), Spain; Ángel Álvarez from Estacion Experimental de Aula Dei of Zaragoza, Spain; José Ignacio Ruiz de Galarreta from Centro Neiker de Arkaute of Vitoria, Spain; colleagues from Centro de Investigaciones Agrarias de Mabegondo (CIAM), Spain and colleagues from Institut National de la Rercherche Agronomique of (INRA) Saint Martin de Hinx, France. This research was jointly supported as “Cornfed project” by the French National Agency for Research (ANR), the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), and the Spanish ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN). R. Rincent is jointly funded by Limagrain, Biogemma, KWS, and the French ANRt. L. Moreau, S. Nicolas and A. Charcosset conducted this research in the framework of Amaizing Investissement d’Avenir program. The authors thank the reviewers and the editor for their comments which improved the manuscript.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical standards

The authors declare that the experiments comply with the current laws of the countries in which the experiments were performed.

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Author notes

  1. S. Bouchet

    Present address: Department of Agronomy, Throckmorton Plant Science Center, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 66506, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. UMR de Génétique Végétale, INRA, Université Paris-Sud, CNRS, AgroParisTech, Ferme du Moulon, 91190, Gif-Sur-Yvette, France

    R. Rincent, S. Nicolas, S. Bouchet, D. Madur, V. Combes, F. Dumas, C. Bauland, P. Jamin, L. Moreau & A. Charcosset

  2. BIOGEMMA, Genetics and Genomics in Cereals, 63720, Chappes, France

    R. Rincent & P. Dubreuil

  3. KWS Saat AG, Grimsehlstr 31, 37555, Einbeck, Germany

    R. Rincent, N. Meyer & M. Ouzunova

  4. Limagrain, site d’ULICE, av G. Gershwin, BP173, 63204, Riom Cedex, France

    R. Rincent & P. Flament

  5. Max-Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology, 14476, Potsdam-Golm, Germany

    T. Altmann

  6. Leibniz-Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), 06466, Gatersleben, Germany

    T. Altmann

  7. INRA, UR 1279 Etude du Polymorphisme des Génomes Végétaux, CEA Institut de Génomique, Centre National de Génotypage, 2, rue Gaston Crémieux, CP5724, 91057, Evry, France

    D. Brunel

  8. Misión Biológica de Galicia, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Apartado 28, 36080, Pontevedra, Spain

    P. Revilla & R. A. Malvar

  9. Centro de Investigaciones Agrarias de Mabegondo, Apartado 10, 15080, La Coruna, Spain

    J. Moreno-Gonzalez & L. Campo

  10. Institute of Plant Breeding, Seed Science, and Population Genetics, University of Hohenheim, Fruwirthstr.21, 70599, Stuttgart, Germany

    A. E. Melchinger & W. Schipprack

  11. Plant Breeding, Technische Universität München, 85354, Freising, Germany

    E. Bauer & C.-C. Schoen

  12. INRA/Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille, UMR1281, Stress Abiotiques et Différenciation des Végétaux Cultivés, Estrées-Mons, B.P. 136, 80203, Péronne Cedex, France

    C. Giauffret

  13. INRA Stn Expt Mais, 40590, St Martin De Hinx, France

    J. Laborde

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  1. R. Rincent
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  2. S. Nicolas
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  15. M. Ouzunova
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  19. V. Combes
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  20. F. Dumas
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  21. C. Bauland
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  25. L. Moreau
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Correspondence to A. Charcosset.

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Communicated by Michael Gore.

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Rincent, R., Nicolas, S., Bouchet, S. et al. Dent and Flint maize diversity panels reveal important genetic potential for increasing biomass production. Theor Appl Genet 127, 2313–2331 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-014-2379-7

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