QTL mapping for plant height and ear height using bi-parental immortalized heterozygous populations in maize

Haoxiang Yang; Ziran Zhang; Ning Zhang; Ting Li; Junjie Wang; Qing Zhang; Jiquan Xue; Wanchao Zhu; Shutu Xu

doi:10.3389/fpls.2024.1371394

QTL mapping for plant height and ear height using bi-parental immortalized heterozygous populations in maize

Front Plant Sci. 2024 Mar 25:15:1371394. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1371394. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Haoxiang Yang¹, Ziran Zhang¹, Ning Zhang¹, Ting Li¹, Junjie Wang¹, Qing Zhang¹, Jiquan Xue¹, Wanchao Zhu¹, Shutu Xu¹

Affiliation

¹ College of Agronomy, Key Laboratory of Maize Biology and Genetic Breeding in Arid Area of Northwest Region, Yangling, Shaanxi, China.

Abstract

Introduction: Plant height (PH) and ear height (EH) are key plant architectural traits in maize, which will affect the photosynthetic efficiency, high plant density tolerance, suitability for mechanical harvesting.

Methods: QTL mapping were conducted for PH and EH using a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population and two corresponding immortalized backcross (IB) populations obtained from crosses between the RIL population and the two parental lines.

Results: A total of 17 and 15 QTL were detected in the RIL and IB populations, respectively. Two QTL, qPH1-1 (qEH1-1) and qPH1-2 (qEH1-4) in the RIL, were simultaneously identified for PH and EH. Combing reported genome-wide association and cloned PH-related genes, co-expression network analyses were constructed, then five candidate genes with high confidence in major QTL were identified including Zm00001d011117 and Zm00001d011108, whose homologs have been confirmed to play a role in determining PH in maize and soybean.

Discussion: QTL mapping used a immortalized backcross population is a new strategy. These identified genes in this study can provide new insights for improving the plant architecture in maize.

Keywords: QTL mapping; bi-parental immortalized heterozygous populations; ear height; maize; plant height.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by the Shanxi Province Research and Development Project (202102140601002) and Shaanxi Province Research and Development Project (2023-YBNY-027).