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ARS Home » Midwest Area » St. Paul, Minnesota » Plant Science Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #233319
Title: Prospects for Simultaneous Improvement of Corn Grain Yield and Stover Quality for Cellulosic Ethanol: Quantitative Genetic Parameters, Genetic Value Predictions, and QTL

Author
item LORENZANA, ROBENZON - UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
item LEWIS, MAGAN - UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
item Jung, Hans Joachim
item BERNARDO, REX - UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

Submitted to: Plant and Animal Genome Conference
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/15/2008
Publication Date: 1/11/2009
Citation: Lorenzana, R.E., Lewis, M.L., Jung, H.G., Bernardo, R. 2009. Prospects for Simultaneous Improvement of Corn Grain Yield and Stover Quality for Cellulosic Ethanol: Quantitative Genetic Parameters, Genetic Value Predictions, and QTL [abstract]. XVII Plant and Animal Genome Conference Proceedings, January 10-14, 2009, San Diego, California. Abstract P317.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Corn (Zea mays L.) has been bred for increased grain yield but not for stover quality for cellulosic ethanol production. Our objectives were to: (1) identify potential barriers, at the quantitative trait and molecular marker level, for simultaneous improvement of grain yield and stover quality; (2) identify QTL for stover quality traits; and 3) compare the accuracy of genetic value predictions from marker-assisted recurrent selection (MARS) and genomewide selection (GWS) for yield and stover quality. In 2007, testcrosses of 223 B73 x Mo17 recombinant inbreds were evaluated at four Minnesota locations. Genetic variances were significant for grain yield, grain moisture, lignin concentration in the cell wall (KLCW), glucose concentration (GLC), and amount of glucose released from pretreatment and enzymatic digestion (GLCR). Heritabilities ranged from 0.50 for grain yield to 0.86 for grain moisture. Genetic correlations were -0.42 between grain yield and KLCW and 0.36 between grain yield and both GLC and GLCR. KLCW was negatively correlated with GLC and GLCR. The direction of effects for co-located QTL for grain yield, KLCW, GLC, and GLCR were favorable. A QTL with a relatively large effect (R2= 0.19) was identified for KLCW. Accuracy of predictions from MARS and GWS for selection indices for grain yield and stover quality indicated that GWS is almost always more accurate than MARS. Overall, our results suggest that there is no severe genetic impediment to simultaneous improvement of grain yield and stover quality traits.