The Use of DArTseq Technology to Identify Markers Related to the Heterosis Effects in Selected Traits in Maize

Abstract

Spectacular scientific advances in the area of molecular biology and the development of modern biotechnological tools have had a significant impact on the development of maize heterosis breeding. One technology based on next-generation sequencing is DArTseq. The plant material used for the research consisted of 13 hybrids resulting from the crossing of inbred maize lines. A two-year field experiment was established at two Polish breeding stations: Smolice and Łagiewniki. Nine quantitative traits were observed: cob length, cob diameter, core length, core diameter, number of rows of grain, number of grains in a row, mass of grain from the cob, weight of one thousand grains, and yield. The isolated DNA was subjected to DArTseq genotyping. Association mapping was performed using a method based on the mixed linear model. A total of 81602 molecular markers (28571 SNPs and 53031 SilicoDArTs) were obtained as a result of next-generation sequencing. Out of 81602, 15409 (13850 SNPs and 1559 SilicoDArTs) were selected for association analysis. The 105 molecular markers (8 SNPs and 97 SilicoDArTs) were associated with the heterosis effect of at least one trait in at least one environment. A total of 186 effects were observed. The number of statistically significant relationships between the molecular marker and heterosis effect varied from 8 (for cob length) and 9 (for yield) to 42 (for the number of rows of grain). Of particular note were three markers (2490222, 2548691 and 7058267), which were significant in 17, 8 and 6 cases, respectively. Two of them (2490222 and 7058267) were associated with the heterosis effects of yield in three of the four environments.

Meta-Analysis of Influence of Diversity of Parental Forms on Heterosis and Specific Combining Ability of Their Hybrids

“…Association mapping is also conducted for hybrids of many plant species [94][95][96][97]. Recently, an attempt has been made to study the relationship between molecular markers and heterosis effects in maize [33]. The results show that the integration of molecular genetics with traditional methods of plant selection guarantees an objective assessment of the phenotype taking into account environmental factors and provides the opportunity to eliminate undesirable genotypes at the seedling stage, thus reducing breeding time.…”

Identification and Analysis of Candidate Genes Associated with Yield Structure Traits and Maize Yield Using Next-Generation Sequencing Technology

“…Bocianowski et al [39] used NGS technology and associative mapping to identify markers related to the heterosis effect in maize. Using the same methods, Sobiech et al [40] identified markers linked to the resistance of maize plants to fusarium. In turn, Tomkowiak et al [41] identified six SNP markers (1818; 14506; 2317; 3233; 11657; 12812) located inside genes, on chromosomes 8, 9, 7, 3, 5 and 1, related to the amount of yield in corn.…”