Morphological and molecular characterization of teosinte derived maize population

Abstract

Germplasm enhancement seems to be an essential part of a breeding programme to improve resiliency, adaptability and productivity of the crops. To develop and diversify the maize germplasm, teosinte a wild relative of maize was integrated in crossing programme and BC1F4 lines were developed. Five BC1F4 lines along with teosinte and maize inbred DI-103 were characterised using quantitative characters and molecular markers. Morphological characterization was done with the help of visual parameters and quantitative traits and for molecular characterization fifty six SSR markers were used. SSR data were analysed with the help of software Mapmaker and twelve linkage groups were generated. Maximum allelic contributions from parent teosinte were found in the introgressed line AM-5 (53.4%) followed by AM-12 (48.9 %), whereas, least contribution of 34.1 % was found in AM-7. The maximum genetic distance among the introgressed lines was observed between AM-2 and AM-9 (0.75) followed by AM-2 and AM-7 (0.70), AM-7 and AM-9 (0.70). The maximum number of cob was found in AM-5 (5.00) followed by AM-2 (4.00). Grain yield per plant was found highest for AM-2 (100.00 g) followed by AM-12 (80.00 g), while, least value was observed for AM-7 (42.00 g). The results indicated differential parental contributions which leads to diversification in the progenies derived from diverse crosses in maize and further opined that such crosses seems to be essential for creating adapted germplasm to whom breeders are looking for.