QTL Analysis Reveals Conserved and Differential Genetic Regulation of Maize Lateral Angles above the Ear

Zhu, Yanbin; Song, Bo; Guo, Yanling; Wang, Baobao; Xu, Changcheng; Zhu, Hongyu; E, Lizhu; Lai, Jinsheng; Song, Weibin; Zhao, Haiming

doi:10.3390/plants12030680

Open AccessArticle

QTL Analysis Reveals Conserved and Differential Genetic Regulation of Maize Lateral Angles above the Ear

by

Yanbin Zhu

^1,2,3,†,

Bo Song

^1,2,†,

Yanling Guo

^1,2,

Baobao Wang

⁴,

Changcheng Xu

²,

Hongyu Zhu

²,

Lizhu E

¹,

Jinsheng Lai

¹,

Weibin Song

¹

and

Haiming Zhao

^1,*

¹

State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, National Maize Improvement Center, Department of Plant Genetics and Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China

²

National Key Laboratory of Maize Biological Breeding, Key Laboratory of Genetics and Breeding of Main Crops in Northeast Region, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Liaoning Dongya Seed Industry Co., Ltd., Shenyang 110164, China

³

Sanya Institute of Henan University, Sanya 572025, China

⁴

Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

The authors contributed equally to this work.

Plants 2023, 12(3), 680; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12030680

Submission received: 17 December 2022 / Revised: 30 January 2023 / Accepted: 31 January 2023 / Published: 3 February 2023

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Genomics and Molecular Breeding of Crops)

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Abstract

Improving the density tolerance and planting density has great importance for increasing maize production. The key to promoting high density planting is breeding maize with a compact canopy architecture, which is mainly influenced by the angles of the leaves and tassel branches above the ear. It is still unclear whether the leaf angles of different stem nodes and tassel branches are controlled by similar genetic regulatory mechanisms, which limits the ability to breed for density-tolerant maize. Here, we developed a population with 571 double haploid lines derived from inbred lines, PHBA6 and Chang7-2, showing significant differences in canopy architecture. Phenotypic and QTL analyses revealed that the genetic regulation mechanism was largely similar for closely adjacent leaves above the ears. In contrast, the regulation mechanisms specifying the angles of distant leaves and the angles of leaves vs. tassel branches are largely different. The liguless1 gene was identified as a candidate gene for QTLs co-regulating the angles of different leaves and the tassel branch, consistent with its known roles in regulating plant architecture. Our findings can be used to develop strategies for the improvement of leaf and tassel architecture through the introduction of trait-specific or pleiotropic genes, thus benefiting the breeding of maize with increased density tolerance in the future.

Keywords: maize; leaf angle (LA); tassel branch angle (TBA); quantitative trait locus (QTL)

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MDPI and ACS Style

Zhu, Y.; Song, B.; Guo, Y.; Wang, B.; Xu, C.; Zhu, H.; E, L.; Lai, J.; Song, W.; Zhao, H. QTL Analysis Reveals Conserved and Differential Genetic Regulation of Maize Lateral Angles above the Ear. Plants 2023, 12, 680. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12030680

AMA Style

Zhu Y, Song B, Guo Y, Wang B, Xu C, Zhu H, E L, Lai J, Song W, Zhao H. QTL Analysis Reveals Conserved and Differential Genetic Regulation of Maize Lateral Angles above the Ear. Plants. 2023; 12(3):680. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12030680

Chicago/Turabian Style

Zhu, Yanbin, Bo Song, Yanling Guo, Baobao Wang, Changcheng Xu, Hongyu Zhu, Lizhu E, Jinsheng Lai, Weibin Song, and Haiming Zhao. 2023. "QTL Analysis Reveals Conserved and Differential Genetic Regulation of Maize Lateral Angles above the Ear" Plants 12, no. 3: 680. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12030680

APA Style

Zhu, Y., Song, B., Guo, Y., Wang, B., Xu, C., Zhu, H., E, L., Lai, J., Song, W., & Zhao, H. (2023). QTL Analysis Reveals Conserved and Differential Genetic Regulation of Maize Lateral Angles above the Ear. Plants, 12(3), 680. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12030680

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

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QTL Analysis Reveals Conserved and Differential Genetic Regulation of Maize Lateral Angles above the Ear

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