Open Access

ARTICLE

Genetic Diversity and Combining Ability of Developed Maize Lines to Realize Heterotic and High Yielding Hybrids for Arid Conditions

Mohamed M. Kamara¹, Fatmah A. Safhi², Nora M. Al Aboud³, Maha Aljabri³, Samah A. Alharbi³, Hesham S. Ghazzawy^4,5, Mohammed O. Alshaharni⁶, Eman Fayad⁷, Wessam F. Felemban^8,9, Diaa Abd El-Moneim¹⁰, Abdallah A. Hassanin¹¹, Imen Ben Abdelmalek^12,*, Abdelraouf M. Ali¹³, Elsayed Mansour^14,*
1 Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafr El-Sheikh, 33516, Egypt
2 Department of Biology, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, 11671, Saudi Arabia
3 Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, 24372, Saudi Arabia
4 Date Palm Research Center of Excellence, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, 31982, Saudi Arabia
5 Central Laboratory for Date Palm Research and Development, Agriculture Research Center, Giza, 12511, Egypt
6 Biology Department, College of Science, King Khalid University, Abha, 61321, Saudi Arabia
7 Department of Biotechnology, College of Sciences, Taif University, Taif, 21944, Saudi Arabia
8 Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia
9 Immunology Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia
10 Department of Plant Production (Genetic Branch), Faculty of Environmental Agricultural Sciences, Arish University, El-Arish, 45511, Egypt
11 Genetics Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig, 44511, Egypt
12 Department of Biology, College of Science, Buraydah, 51452, Saudi Arabia
13 National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences (NARSS), Al-Nozha Al-Gedida, Cairo, P.O. Box 1564, Egypt
14 Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig, 44519, Egypt
* Corresponding Author: Imen Ben Abdelmalek. Email: ; Elsayed Mansour. Email:
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Integrative Approaches to Plant Stress Responses under Changing Climate Conditions)

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2024.058628

Received 17 September 2024; Accepted 11 November 2024; Published online 06 December 2024

Abstract

Developing high-yield maize hybrids is critical for sustaining maize production, especially in the face of rapid climate changes and the growing global population. Exploring the genetic diversity and combining ability in parental inbreds is needed for developing such high-yielding hybrids. Consequently, this study aimed at evaluating parental genetic diversity employing simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers, estimating effects of general (GCA) and specific (SCA) combining abilities for grain yield and yield contributing characters, identifying high yielding hybrids, and evaluating the association of SCA effects and performance of hybrids with genetic distance. Half-diallel mating scheme was utilized to develop 21 F₁ hybrids from seven diverse maize inbred lines. The F₁ hybrids along with check hybrid (SC-10), were investigated in a field trial over two growing seasons under arid conditions. The assessed F₁ hybrids displayed significant genetic variations across all recorded traits. The inbreds P₁ and P₃ were detected as effective combiners to develop early maturing hybrids. Additionally, P₃ and P₄ were recognized as better combiners for improving grain yield and yield attributed characters. The hybrids P₁ × P₅ and P₄ × P₇ displayed significant SCA effects coupled with favorable agronomic performance. These hybrids are recommended for further evaluation and release as variety for arid environments to increase total maize production and contribute to food security. The alleles per locus differed between 2 and 5, with average of 3.5 alleles/locus. The polymorphic information content (PIC) altered between 0.21 to 0.74, with a mean of 0.56. Unweighted neighbor-joining tree grouped the inbred lines into three clusters, providing a valuable tool to decrease the crosses needed to be assessed in the trial field. Parental genetic distance varied from 0.63 to 0.90, averaging 0.79. The relationship between genetic diversity assessed through SSR markers and SCA effects was insignificant for all considered traits. Otherwise, SCA demonstrated a significant correlation with hybrid performance, suggesting that SCA serves as a reliable predictor for hybrid performance. The assessed maize inbred lines and developed hybrids revealed substantial genetic variability, offering valuable resources for enhancing maize productivity under arid conditions. The identified promising inbred lines (P₁, P₃, and P₄) might be regarded as effective combiners for developing early-maturing genotypes and excellent combiners for enhancing yield attributes. Notably, the developed hybrids P₁ × P₅ and P₄ × P₇ possessed significant SCA alongside superior yield traits. SCA demonstrated a significant correlation with hybrid performance, suggesting its potential as a reliable predictor for the performance of developed hybrids.

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Keywords

Arid environment adaptation; maize breeding; sustainable maize production; hybrid performance; combining ability; genetic diversity

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