Genetic Control of Kernel Composition in Maize-Teosinte Germplasm.

Teosinte (Zea mays ssp. parviglumis) is the wild progenitor of maize and has greater genetic diversity than maize inbreds and landraces (Z. mays ssp. mays). Teosinte readily forms hybrids with maize and thus offers a unique pool of allelic diversity for maize improvement, yet limited genetic resources were available to efficiently evaluate and tap this diversity. To broaden resources for genetic diversity studies in maize, we previously developed over 900 near-isogenic introgression lines (NILs) from 10 teosinte accessions in the B73 background. Here we use these NIL populations to explore the genetic architecture of kernel starch, protein, and oil. We found two starch, three protein and six oil QTL, which collectively explain 18%, 23% and 45% of the total variation, respectively. A range of strong allelic effects were identified relative to the B73 allele supporting our hypothesis that teosinte harbors stronger alleles for kernel composition traits than maize. These teosinte alleles can be exploited for the improvement of kernel composition traits in modern maize germplasm.