Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Mapping QTL for Grain Yield and Plant Traits in a Tropical Maize Population

  • Published:
Molecular Breeding Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The vast majority of reported QTL mapping for maize (Zea mays L.) traits are from temperate germplasm and, also, QTL by environment interaction (QTL × E) has not been thoroughly evaluated and analyzed in most of these papers. The maize growing areas in tropical regions are more prone to environmental variability than in temperate areas, and, therefore, genotype by environment interaction is of great concern for maize breeders. The objectives of this study were to map QTL and to test their interaction with environments for several traits in a tropical maize population. Two-hundred and fifty-six F2:3 families evaluated in five environments, a genetic map with 139 microsatellites markers, and the multiple-environment joint analysis (mCIM) were used to map QTL and to test QTL × E interaction. Sixteen, eight, six, six, nine, and two QTL were mapped for grain yield, ears per plant, plant lodging, plant height, ear height, and number of leaves, respectively. Most of these QTL interacted significantly with environments, most of them displayed overdominance for all traits, and genetic correlated traits had a low number of QTL mapped in the same genomic regions. Few of the QTL mapped had already been reported in both temperate and tropical germplasm. The low number of stable QTL across environments imposes additional challenges to design marker-assisted selection in tropical areas, unless the breeding programs could be directed towards specific target areas.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • H.A.S. Agrama A.G. Zakaria F.B. Said M.R. Tuinstra (1999) ArticleTitleIdentification of quantitative trait loci for nitrogen use efficiency in maize Mol. Breed. 5 187–195 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1009669507144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • P. Ajmone-Marsan G. Monfredini W.F. Ludwing A.E. Melchinger P. Franceschini G. Pagnotto M. Motto (1995) ArticleTitleIn an elite cross of maize a major quantitative trait locus controls one-fourth of the genetic variation of grain yield Theor. Appl. Genet. 90 415–424 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK2MXmtF2lsLo%3D

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • J.C.S. Allison D.J. Watson (1966) ArticleTitleThe production and distribution of dry matter maize after flowering Ann. Bot. 30 365–381

    Google Scholar 

  • D.F. Austin M. Lee (1996a) ArticleTitleGenetic resolution and verification of quantitative trait loci for flowering and plant height with recombinant inbred lines of maize Genome 39 957–968 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK28XntVSnur0%3D

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • D.F. Austin M. Lee (1996b) ArticleTitleComparative mapping in F2:3 and F6:7 generations of quantitative trait loci for grain yield and yield components in maize Theor. Appl. Genet. 92 817–826 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK28XltFOls70%3D

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • W.D. Beavis O.S. Smith D. Grant R. Fincher (1994) ArticleTitleIdentification of quantitative trait loci using a small sample of topcrossed and F4 progeny from maize Crop Sci. 34 882–896

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Bohn M.M. Khairallah D. González-de-León D.A. Hoisington H.F. Utz J.A. Deutsch D.C. Jewell J.A. Mihm A.E. Melchinger (1996) ArticleTitleQTLs mapping in tropical maize: I. Genomic regions affecting leaf feeding resistance to sugarcane borer and other traits Crop Sci. 36 1352–1361

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Bohn M.M Khairallah C. Jiang D. González-de-León D.A. Hoisington H.F. Utz J.A. Deutsch D.C. Jewell J.A. Mihm A.E. Melchinger (1997) ArticleTitleQTL mapping in tropical maize: II. Comparison of genomic regions for resistance to Diatraea spp Crop Sci. 37 1892–1902 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK1cXjtlKksw%3D%3D

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • A. Bouchez F. Hospital M. Causse A. Gallais A. Charcosset (2002) ArticleTitleMarker-assisted introgression of favorable alleles at quantitative trait loci between maize elite lines Genetics 162 1945–1959 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DC%2BD3sXht1ajsL0%3D Occurrence Handle12524362

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • R.K. Burdick F.A. Graybill (1992) Confidence Intervals on Variance Components Marcel Dekker. Inc New York 211

    Google Scholar 

  • C.C. Cockerham Z. Zeng (1996) ArticleTitleDesign III with marker loci Genetics 143 1437–1456 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:BymH3c%2Fptlw%3D Occurrence Handle8807314

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • R.W. Doerge (2002) ArticleTitleMapping and analysis of quantitative trait loci in experimental populations Nat. Rev. Genet. 3 43–52 Occurrence Handle10.1038/nrg703 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DC%2BD38XhsV2gsbY%3D Occurrence Handle11823790

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • M.D. Edwards T. Helentjaris S. Wright C.W. Stuber (1992) ArticleTitleMolecular-marker-facilited investigations of quantitative trait loci in maize. 4. Analysis based on genome saturation with isozyme and restriction fragment lenght polymorphism markers Theor. Appl. Genet. 83 765–774 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00226696 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK38XltVGnur8%3D

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • G.I. Graham D.W. Wolff C.W. Stuber (1997) ArticleTitleCharacterization of a yield quantitative trait locus on chromosome five by fine mapping Crop Sci. 37 1601–1610 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK2sXmslCmtbs%3D

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • S. Grohn D. González-de-León M.M. Khairallah C. Jiang M. Bergvinson M. Bohn D.A. Hoisington A.E. Melchinger (1998) ArticleTitleQTL mapping in tropical maize: III. Genomic regions for resistance to Diatraea spp. and associated traits in two RIL populations Crop Sci. 38 1062–1072

    Google Scholar 

  • A.R. Hallauer J.B. Miranda-Filho (1988) Quantitative Genetics in Maize Breeding EditionNumber2 Iowa State University Press Ames 468

    Google Scholar 

  • P. Hoyt R. Bradfield (1962) ArticleTitleEffect of varying leaf area by partial defoliation and plant density on dry matter production in corn Agron. J. 54 523–525

    Google Scholar 

  • C. Jiang Z.B. Zeng (1995) ArticleTitleMultiple trait analysis of genetic mapping for quantitative trait loci Genetics 140 1111–1127 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK28Xht1Gjur4%3D Occurrence Handle7672582

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • C. Kao Z.B. Zeng R. Teasdale (1999) ArticleTitleMultiple interval mapping for quantitative trait loci Genetics 152 1203–1216 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK1MXltVWnsbg%3D Occurrence Handle10388834

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • M.M. Khairallah M. Bohn C. Jiang J.A. Deutsch D.C. Jewell J.A. Mihm A.E. Melchinger D. González-de-León D.A. Hoisington (1998) ArticleTitleMolecular mapping of QTL for southwestern corn borer resistance, plant height and flowering in tropical maize Plant Breed. 117 309–318

    Google Scholar 

  • D.D. Kosambi (1944) ArticleTitleThe estimation of map distances from recombination values Ann. Eugen. 12 172–175

    Google Scholar 

  • L.L.B. Lanza C.L. Souza SuffixJr. L.M.M. Ottoboni M.L.C. Vieira A.P. Souza (1997) ArticleTitleGenetic distance of inbred lines and prediction of maize single-cross performance using RAPD markers Theor. Appl. Genet. 94 1023–1030 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s001220050510 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK2sXltlKntL4%3D

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lincoln S.E., Daly M.J. and Lander E.S. 1992. Constructing Genetic Maps with MAPMAKER/EXP Version 3.0. Whitehead Institute Technical Report. 3rd ed.

  • H. Lu J. Romero-Severson R. Bernardo (2003) ArticleTitleGenetic basis of heterosis explored by simple sequence repeat markers in a random-mated maize population Theor. Appl. Genet. 107 494–502 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s00122-003-1271-7 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DC%2BD3sXmslSisLg%3D Occurrence Handle12759730

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • M. Lynch B. Walsh (1998) Genetics and analysis of quantitative traits Sinauer Associates Inc. Sunderland 980

    Google Scholar 

  • Maize Data Bank 2005. Query at URL, http://www.maizegdb.org(July).

  • C.A. Mangolin C.L. Souza SuffixJr. A.A.F. Garcia A.F. Garcia S.T. Sibov A.P. Souza (2004) ArticleTitleMapping QTLs for kernel oil content in a tropical maize population Euphytica 137 251–259 Occurrence Handle10.1023/B:EUPH.0000041588.95689.47 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DC%2BD2cXnsFOrsLk%3D

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • A.E. Melchinger H.F. Utz C.C. Schön (2004) ArticleTitleQTL analysis of complex traits with cross validation, bootstrapping and other biometric methods Euphytica 137 1–11 Occurrence Handle10.1023/B:EUPH.0000040498.48379.68 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DC%2BD2cXntleku70%3D

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • R. Mihaljevic C.C. Schön H.F. Utz A.E. Melchinger (2005) ArticleTitleCorrelations and QTL correspondence between line per setestcross performance for agronomic traits in four populations of European maize Crop Sci. 45 114–122

    Google Scholar 

  • C.J. Mode H.F. Robinson (1959) ArticleTitlePleiotropism and the genetic variance and covariance Biometrics 15 518–537

    Google Scholar 

  • L. Moreau A. Charcosset A. Gallais (2004) ArticleTitleExperimental evaluation of several cycles of marker-assisted selection in maize Euphytica 137 111–118 Occurrence Handle10.1023/B:EUPH.0000040508.01402.21 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DC%2BD2cXntlekuro%3D

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Openshaw S. and Frascaroli E. 1997. QTL detection and marker-assisted selection for complex traits in maize. In: Proc. 52th Annual Corn and Sorghum Research Conference, ASTA, Washington, D.C.

  • J.-M. Ribaut C. Jiang D. Gonzalez-de-Leon (1997) ArticleTitleIdentification of quantitative trait loci under drought condition in tropical maize. 2. Yield components and marker-assisted selection strategies Theor. Appl. Genet. 94 887–896 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s001220050492

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • InstitutionalAuthorNameSAS Institute (2001) SAS/STAT User’s Guide v. 8.2 SAS Institute Cary, N.C. 1028

    Google Scholar 

  • C.C. Schön A.E. Melchinger J. Boppenmaier E. Brunklaus-Jung R.G. Herrman J.F. Seitzer (1994) ArticleTitleRFLP mapping in maize: quantitative trait loci affecting performance of elite European flint lines Crop Sci. 34 378–389

    Google Scholar 

  • C.C. Schön S. Utz B. Groh S. Truberg S. Openshaw A.E. Melchinger (2004) ArticleTitleQTL mapping based on resampling in a vast maize testcross experiment confirms the infinitesimal model of quantitative genetics for complex traits Genetics 167 485–498 Occurrence Handle15166171

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sibov T.S., Souza Jr. C.L., Garcia A.A.F., Silva A.R., Garcia A.F., Mangolin C.A., Benchimol L.L. and Souza A.P. 2003. Molecular mapping in tropical maize (Zea mays L.) using microsatellite markers. 2. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) for grain yield, plant heightear height and grain moisture.

  • A.R. Silva C.L. Souza SuffixJr. A.M. Aguiar A.P. de Souza (2004) ArticleTitleEstimates of genetic variance and level of dominance in a tropical maize population. I. Grain yield and plant traits Maydica 49 65–71

    Google Scholar 

  • Stuber C.W. and Sisco P. 1992. Marker-facilitated transfer of QTL alleles between elite inbred lines and responses in hybrids. Proceedings of the 46th Annual Corn and Sorghum Research Conference, ASTA Washington, D.C., pp. 104–113.

  • C.W. Stuber S.E. Lincoln D.W. Wolff T. Helentjaris E.S. Lander (1992) ArticleTitleIdentification of genetic factors contributing to heterosis in a hybrid from two elite maize inbred lines using molecular markers Genetics 132 823–839 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK3sXls1Cjsw%3D%3D Occurrence Handle1468633

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • L.R. Veldboom M. Lee (1994) ArticleTitleMolecular-marker-facilitated studies of morphological traits in maize. II. Determination of QTLs for grain yield and yield components Theor. Appl. Genet. 89 415–458 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00225380

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • L.R. Veldboom M. Lee (1996a) ArticleTitleGenetic mapping of quantitative trait loci in maize in stress and nonstress environments: I. Grain yield and yield components Crop Sci. 36 1310–1319 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK28XmsFCkur4%3D

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • L.R. Veldboom M. Lee (1996b) ArticleTitleGenetic mapping of quantitative trait loci in maize in stress and nonstress environments: II. Plant height and flowering Crop Sci. 36 1320–1327 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK28XmsFCkur8%3D

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • L.R. Veldboom M. Lee W.L. Woodman (1994) ArticleTitleMolecular marker-facilitated studies in an elite maize population: I. Linkage analysis and determination of QTL for morphological traits Theor. Appl. Genet. 88 7–16 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00222387 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK2MXjsVWksA%3D%3D

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • C. Vieira E.G. Pasyukova Z.B. Zeng J.B. Hackette R.F. Lyman T.F.C. Mackay (2000) ArticleTitleGenotype-environment interaction for quantitative trait loci affecting life span in Drosophila melanogaster Genetics 154 213–227 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:DC%2BD3c%2FpsVOltg%3D%3D Occurrence Handle10628982

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wang S., Basten C.J. and Zeng Z.-B. 2005. Windows QTL Cartographer 2.5. Department of Statistics, North Caroline State University, N.C.(http://statgen.ncsu.edu/qtlcart/WQTLCart.htm).

  • Z.B. Zeng (1994) ArticleTitlePrecision mapping of quantitative trait loci Genetics 136 1457–1466 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK2MXhtFantw%3D%3D Occurrence Handle8013918

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Z.B. Zeng C. Kao C.J. Basten (1999) ArticleTitleEstimating the genetic architecture of quantitative traits Genet. Res. 74 279–289 Occurrence Handle10.1017/S0016672399004255 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:DC%2BD3c7lsVeqtw%3D%3D Occurrence Handle10689805

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Genética, Escola Superior de Agricultura “Luiz de Queiroz”, Universidade de São Paulo, Caixa Postal 83, 13.400-970, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil

    Cláudio Lopes de Souza Jr, Dyeme Antonio Vieira Bento & Luciana Aparecida Carlini-Garcia

  2. Centro de Biologia Molecular e Engenharia Genética, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Caixa Postal 6010, 13.083-970, Campinas, SP, Brazil

    Milena de Luna Alves Lima & Anete Pereira de Souza

Authors
  1. Milena de Luna Alves Lima
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Cláudio Lopes de Souza Jr
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Dyeme Antonio Vieira Bento
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Anete Pereira de Souza
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Luciana Aparecida Carlini-Garcia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cláudio Lopes de Souza Jr.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lima, M.d.A., de Souza, C.L., Bento, D.A.V. et al. Mapping QTL for Grain Yield and Plant Traits in a Tropical Maize Population. Mol Breeding 17, 227–239 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11032-005-5679-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11032-005-5679-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation