HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Obilana, A. T. Articles by Hallauer, A. R. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Obilana, A. T. Articles by Hallauer, A. R. Agricola Articles by Obilana, A. T. Articles by Hallauer, A. R.

Estimation of Variability of Quantitative Traits in BSSS by Using Unselected Maize Inbred Lines¹

We evaluated 247 S₆ unselected maize (Zea mays L.) lines, developed by single-seed descent from 250 ‘BSSS’ S₀ plants, for 21 quantitatively inherited traits in 3 environments. The S₆ lines were considered representative of a random group of genotypes from BSSS for the estimation of genetic variances, heritabilities, and correlations among traits.

Significant genetic variation existed among the S₆ lines for all traits. The estimates of heritabilities, on a mean basis, were high for most traits, indicating that selection would be effective in the desired direction for any of the traits measured. The estimates of the S₆ line components of variance, which were about equal to twice the additive genetic variance of the base population, were significant for all traits. After adjustments for inbreeding were made, the estimates of the genetic components obtained by use of S₆ lines were very similar to those obtained by using noninbred progenies for seven comparable traits.

The genotypic and phenotypic correlations between yield and plant and tassel traits were either very small or zero. The correlations between the ear components and yield generally were higher, with kernel depth having the highest genetic correlation with yield (r_G = 0.76). The only plant and tassel traits that showed a relatively high correlation were plant height with ear height (r_G = 0.79) and tassel height with tassel-branch length (r_G = 0.55). The genetic correlations among the ear traits ranged from 0.33 to 0.81 and among the root traits from _*0.68 to 0.61.

Key Words: Corn • Zea mays L. • Genetic variance • Heritabilities • Correlations of plant traits with yield • Correlations among plant and ear traits

² Research Officer, Moor Plantation, Ibadan, Nigeria; and Research Geneticist, USDA, and Professor of Agronomy, Iowa State University.

Received for publication July 14, 1973.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. W. Edwards and K. R. Lamkey Quantitative Genetics of Inbreeding in a Synthetic Maize Population Crop Sci., July 1, 2002; 42(4): 1094 - 1104. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]