Predicted genetic gains from targeted recombination in elite biparental maize populations

Sofía P. Brandariz, Rex Bernardo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

Targeted recombination is the ability to induce or select for specific recombination points on chromosomes. A first study with the intermated B73 ´ Mo17 maize (Zea mays L.) population showed that targeted recombination doubles the predicted gains for yield and other agronomic traits. Our objective was to assess the predicted gains from targeted recombination for quantitative traits in multiple, elite maize populations. A total of 969 biparental maize populations were phenotyped at four to 12 environments in the United States from 2000 to 2008. Positions of one and two targeted recombinations per chromosome were determined from genomewide marker effects for 2911 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci. Relative efficiency (RET argeted ) was calculated as the predicted response to targeted recombination divided by the predicted response to nontargeted recombination. On average, targeted recombination doubled the predicted genetic gains for yield, moisture, and test weight. For each trait, RET argeted ranged from around 60 to 400% among the populations, and targeted recombination did not increase gains in around 4% of the populations. The RET argeted tended to decrease as the similarity between the parents increased. Having targeted recombination on three chromosomes (for yield and test weight) to seven chromosomes (for moisture) led to the same or greater predicted gain than nontargeted recombination. Marker intervals for targeted recombination varied across populations and traits. Overall, our results for multiple, elite maize populations indicated that targeted recombination is a most promising breeding approach.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number180062
JournalPlant Genome
Volume12
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2019

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Sofía P. Brandariz was supported by Ph.D. fellowship funded by Monsanto (now Bayer). We thank Drs. David Butruille, Mike Lohuis, and Sam Eathington for allowing us to use the data sets in this study, and Dr. Shengqiang Zhong for his valuable input and insights on our work with these data sets since 2011.

Publisher Copyright:
© Crop Science Society of America.

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