95-18 Phenotypic and Genetic Dissection of Maize Internode Length.

Poster Number 427

See more from this Division: C01 Crop Breeding & Genetics
See more from this Session: Div. C01 Graduate Student Poster Competition
Monday, October 22, 2012
Duke Energy Convention Center, Exhibit Hall AB, Level 1
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German Muttoni, Jillian Foerster, Nicholas Haase, Rajandeep Sekhon, James Johnson, Timothy Beissinger, Scott Stelpflug, Shawn Kaeppler and Natalia de Leon, Department of Agronomy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
Poster Presentation
  • Muttoni_Internode_Length_Poster_2012.pdf (1.1 MB)
  • Plant height is among the most studied traits in maize, however the genetic architecture of its main components, internode length and node number is not well understood. Node number has been shown to be genetically associated with flowering time. With the growing interest in utilizing maize as a source of biomass for biofuel production, it is desirable to alter the maize ideotype to enhance not only grain yield but also biomass yield, through the development of taller plants, without altering maturity. The objective of this study was to characterize the phenotypic relationships among plant height (PH), internode length (IL), internode length below and above the uppermost ear (BEIL and AEIL, respectively) and node number (NN) and to map quantitative trait loci (QTL) for these traits using phenotypically and genetically diverse maize populations. The study was conducted in field trials grown during 2009-2011 in one environment using two recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations, the intermated B73 x Mo17 (IBM) and Oh43 x W64A, as well as the Nested Association Mapping (NAM) population. Across all of these inbred lines we found a strong Spearman’s rank correlation between PH and IL (r=0.60, p<0.01), PH and BEIL (r=0.63, p<0.01) and BEIL and IL (r=0.78, p<0.01), whereas the correlation between PH and AEIL (r=0.29, p<0.01) and IL and AEIL (r=0.63, p<0.01) were comparatively lower. The correlation between PH and NN was lower (r=0.33, p<0.01) than PH and IL, and the correlation between IL and NN was negative (r=-0.43, p<0.01). Interestingly, we did not find overlapping QTL between IL and NN in any of the populations analyzed. Based on these observations it is possible to hypothesize that plant height could be enhanced through the development of genotypes with longer internodes while maintaining or decreasing the node number and therefore potentially maintaining desirable maturity time.
    See more from this Division: C01 Crop Breeding & Genetics
    See more from this Session: Div. C01 Graduate Student Poster Competition