Evaluation of phenotype and genetic diversity of maize landraces from Hubei Province, Southwest China

Abstract

The intelligent exploitation of maize landraces for maize breeding requires a detailed knowledge of genetic and historical relationships among these populations and an understanding of the partitioning of genetic diversity among populations. In this study, the diversity of 102 maize landraces from Hubei Province was evaluated on the basis of phenotype data (collected over two years) and simple sequence repeat (SSR) data. The results showed that significant differences in important traits were present among the landraces, especially in kernel weight and ear height. The comparison of the yield components of two elite populations, BSSSC9 and Suwan2, with those of landraces indicated that the ear length of 28 landraces, the kernel weight of 35 landraces, the row number per ear of 11 landraces, and the kernel number of 3 landraces were better than those of the two elite populations, implicating that abundant genetic diversity and favorable genes were accumulated within these landraces. Thirty-six SSR markers revealed a total of 179 alleles in 102 landraces, with an average of 4.97 alleles per loci, and 0.4362 polymorphism information content (ranging from 0.3141 to 0.5601). Cluster analysis based on the phenotypic data and SSR data divided the 102 landraces into two or three major groups. Integrating the phenotypic data and SSR diversity, we suggested that abundant genetic variability and specific alleles were contained within the set of landraces. A few landraces (including Batangbai, Bairihui, Dongjingbai, and Huangyumi) with large genetic diversity and specific favorable characteristics could be selected for further research and utilization.

Keywords

maize (Zea mays L.) / landrace / phenotype / simple sequence repeat (SSR) / genetic diversity