Comparative genetic analyses of F2 plants and anther culture derived plants of maize

Abstract

The doubled haploid (DH) lines represent a potentially powerful tool in maize genetics and breeding. The goal of this work was to test the ability of the DH lines to be used in these research areas. This was achieved by comparing the segregation and recombination of 94 restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) markers in an F2 population and an anther culture (AC) derived population of maize (Zea mays L.). These were obtained from the cross of R6 (an elite maize line of Mo17/Oh43 group, not responsive to anther culture) with DH89.1 (a maize line very responsive to anther culture provided by Dr. M. Beckert). Despite the single factor disturbed segregations and the impossibility to discriminate between the loose and numerous spurious linkages detected with DH data, a linkage map could be constructed. The comparison of the DH linkage map with the F2 linkage map demonstrated two points. First, the markers order is conserved between the two maps. Second and most importantly, 97% of the length covered by the DH map proved to be consistent with the F2 map. These results are discussed in relation to the use of DH lines in maize breeding and gene mapping.Key words: corn, doubled haploid lines, restriction fragment length polymorphism markers, disturbed segregation, mapping.