Evaluation of CIMMYT maize (Zea mays L.) germplasm by tropical inbred testers

Abstract

Twenty five CIMMYT inbreds were crossed with four elite tropical maize testers. Results exhibited that one inbred line tester can select the top best lines from a large number of CIMMYT lines and two testers gave more reliable results than one tester did. However, when line × environment interaction was significant, selected lines by one tester in one environment were not necessarily same as those selected at another environment indicating thereby that different testers should be used for selecting best inbreds at different environments. This study also showed that inbred lines from different maize heterotic groups did not show any significant differences in identifying best CIMMYT germplasm.

Identifying Quality Protein Maize Inbred Lines for Improved Nutritional Value of Maize in Southern Africa

“…This may have caused the increase in the γ-zein fraction in the QPM lines. It was reported [ 33 ] that maize kernels with hard endosperm produced more α-zein (22 kDa and 19 kDa), while the intensity of these bands declined in QPM genotypes [ 19 , 33 ]. In the current study, the α-zein concentration was also much lower in QPM lines.…”

“…In recent years, a large number of QPM inbred lines have been developed and successfully used as parents for generating hybrids and synthetic varieties [ 17 , 18 ]. Parental materials form the basis on which the development of stable and high yielding maize hybrids revolve [ 19 ]. As such, inbred lines should be extensively evaluated at different locations for consistency in the performance of traits of interest.…”