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Effect of Different Cytoplasms on Oil, Fatty Acids, Plant Height, and Ear Height in Maize (Zea mays L.)¹

Plant-to-plant reciprocal crosses were made between the maize (Zea mays L.) strain Illinois High Oil (IHO) and each of seven maize inbreds plus the strain Illinois Low Oil (ILO). Oil analysis showed that the direction of the cross caused the oil content of F₁ kernels to vary an average of 3.00%. Paternal effects were of similar magnitude. These effects relate to differences in proportion of germ, percent oil in the germ, and fatty acid distribution in the whole kernel. To separate the physiological influence of the female parent from that of the cytoplasm it contributes, we examined F₁ plants and, in a 2-year study, F₂ kernels differing only in their cytoplasm source. Oil content, ear height, and plant height were affected in some IHO x lme reciprocal hybrids, but there was no effect on fatty acid composition. Because the largest cytoplasmic effect on oil was 0.14%, we concluded that the physiological influence of the female parent was responsible for the 3.00% maternal effect.

Key Words: Maternal effect • Paternal effect

² Fellow in Agronomy (now Research Assistant, Department of Horticulture, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pa. 16802); Research Chemist, Cereal Crops Research Branch, Crops Research Division, ARS, USDA; Assistant Professor of Plant Genetics, and Professor of Plant Genetics, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801.