engleski

Genetic Diversity of Maize Inbred Lines from Croatian Gene Bank Revealed by SSR Markers

The use of exotic materials in maize breeding is essential to solve the narrow genetic base of the commercial germplasm. Assessing the genetic diversity and heterotic pattern of existing exotic material can help in its implementation in modern breeding programs. Croatian gene bank (CGB) maintain a collection of inbred lines (accessions) in whose pedigrees the germplasm comprising several landraces from South Eastern Europe is significantly involved. The aim of the present study was to assess genetic diversity of inbred lines from CGB collection using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Seventy-seven accessions from the CGB collection together with four standards (elite US inbred lines) were genotyped using 40 SSRs evenly distributed over ten maize chromosomes. A total of 220 alleles were found across 40 loci in the 81 inbred lines. The number of alleles per locus varied from 2 to 16 with an average of 5.5. Polymorphism information content (PIC) values varied from 0.24 to 0.80 with an average of 0.51. One or two private alleles per genotype were found in 20 accessions and 3 private alleles were found in one standard. Cluster analysis clearly separated all genotypes from each other assigning them into four major groups with one standard inbred appeared in each group. The results of clustering were only partially in accordance with the known pedigrees. The results of the present study will be useful in effective utilization of studied lines in hybrid maize breeding programs.

Croatian gene bank, alleles, inbred lines, cluster analysis

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