Formation of Heterotic Groups and Understanding Genetic Effects in a Provitamin A Biofortified Maize Breeding Program
Developing biofortified maize cultivars is a viable approach to combating vitamin A deficiency
Abstract
Developing biofortified maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars is a viable approach to combating the widespread problem of vitamin A deficiency among people for whom maize is a staple food. To enhance CIMMYT’s provitamin A maize breeding efforts, this study:
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evaluated whether separation of experimental maize lines into groups based on maximizing their molecular-marker-based genetic distances (GD) resulted in heterosis for among-group crosses,
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assessed genetic effects (general and specific combining ability, GCA and SCA) for grain yield and provitamin A concentrations in hybrids among 21 inbred lines representing the three proposed groups
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assessed the association between grain yield and provitamin A concentrations.
The lines were crossed following a partial diallel design resulting in 156 hybrids that were evaluated at four environments with two replications of one-row plots. The first plant in each plot was self-pollinated to produce grain for provitamin A analysis. Significant but small yield advantage of among- versus within-group crosses (0.47 Mg ha−1, P
Citation
Suwarno, W.B.; Pixley, K.V.; Palacios-Rojas, N.; Kaeppler, S.M.; Babu, R. Formation of Heterotic Groups and Understanding Genetic Effects in a Provitamin A Biofortified Maize Breeding Program. Crop Science (2014) 54 (1) 14-24. [DOI: 10.2135/cropsci2013.02.0096]