Agro-morphological and SSR-based molecular characterization of Maize (Zea mays L.) inbred lines
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The development of high-yielding maize hybrids largely depends on the selection of diverse and complementary parental lines. However, this process is currently constrained by limited information on the extent of agro-morphological and molecular diversity among the available maize inbred lines in Nepal. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the genetic diversity of maize inbred lines using agro-morphological traits and SSR markers. A total of 24 maize inbred lines were assessed in Rampur, Chitwan, from October to March, 2022–2024. The experiment was laid out in an alpha lattice design with three replications. Differences between the inbred lines were observed for days to 50% anthesis, days to 50% silking, anthesis-silking interval, maturity days, ear height, leaf length, leaf breadth, leaf area, stem diameter, tassel length, number of tassel branches, ear length, number of kernel rows per ear, number of kernels per row, thousand-kernel weight, and grain yield. Anthesis-silking interval ranged from 2.17 to 2.91 days with a mean of 2.50 days, while grain yield ranged from 1245 to 2240 kg/ha with a mean of 1779 kg/ha. Cluster analysis revealed the largest distance (862.61) was between cluster centroids, with Cluster II and Cluster V having the highest genetic dissimilarity. The top-yielding inbred lines were RML76 (2240 kg/ha), RML17 (2207 kg/ha), and RML96 (2190 kg/ha), all grouped in Cluster V, also characterized by longer anthesis-silking interval, more kernel rows per ear, and higher plant and ear heights. Principal component analysis identified grain yield, ear length, leaf length, leaf breadth, leaf area, ear height, and plant height as major contributors to PC1, explaining 26.16% cumulative variance. Out of 29 SSR markers used in this study, 26 were polymorphic, detecting 77 alleles, with fragment sizes ranging from 50 to 1000 bp and PIC values of 0.15 to 0.68. The study revealed substantial agro-morphological and genetic variation among the maize inbred lines, highlighting their potential as parents in hybrid development.
Source: Discover Plants.
Language: English
Subfield: Genetics
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7204443036