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Gene flow in maize fields with different local pollen densities

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Abstract

The development of maize (Zea mays L.) varieties as factories of pharmaceutical and industrial compounds has renewed interest in controlling pollen dispersal. The objective of this study was to compare gene flow into maize fields of different local pollen densities under the same environmental conditions. Two fields of approximately 36 ha were planted with a nontransgenic, white hybrid, in Ankeny, Iowa, USA. In the center of both fields, a 1-ha plot of a yellow-seeded stacked RR/Bt transgenic hybrid was planted as a pollen source. Before flowering, the white receiver maize of one field was detasseled in a 4:1 ratio to reduce the local pollen density (RPD). The percentage of outcross in the field with RPD was 42.2%, 6.3%, and 1.3% at 1, 10, and 35 m from the central plot, respectively. The percentage of outcross in the white maize with normal pollen density (NPD) was 30.1%, 2.7%, and 0.4%, respectively, at these distances. At distances greater than 100 m, the outcross frequency decreased below 0.1 and 0.03% in the field with RPD and NPD, respectively. A statistical model was used to compare pollen dispersal based on observed outcross percentages. The likelihood ratio test confirmed that the models of outcrossing in the two fields were significantly different (P is practically 0). Results indicated that when local pollen is low, the incoming pollen has a competitive advantage and the level of outcross is significantly greater than when the local pollen is abundant.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by United States Department of Agriculture CSREES Biotechnology Risk Assessment Research Grants Program proposal 2003-04365, and by the Integrated Studies in Agroecosystems initiative sponsored under an endowment to the Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agronomy, 166 Seed Science Center, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA

    A. Susana Goggi & Higinio Lopez-Sanchez

  2. Department of Statistics, Snedecor Hall, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA

    Petrutza Caragea

  3. Department of Agronomy, 1577 Agronomy Hall, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA

    Mark Westgate

  4. Department of Agronomy, 3009 Agronomy Hall, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA

    Raymond Arritt & Craig A. Clark

Authors
  1. A. Susana Goggi
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  2. Higinio Lopez-Sanchez
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  3. Petrutza Caragea
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  4. Mark Westgate
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  5. Raymond Arritt
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  6. Craig A. Clark
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Correspondence to A. Susana Goggi.

Additional information

This journal paper of the Iowa Agricultural and Home Economics Experiment Station, Ames, Iowa, Project No. 3638, was supported by Hatch Act, State of Iowa fund and by a USDA-CREES BRA Grant.

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Goggi, A.S., Lopez-Sanchez, H., Caragea, P. et al. Gene flow in maize fields with different local pollen densities. Int J Biometeorol 51, 493–503 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-007-0088-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-007-0088-5

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