Association Analysis of Agromorphological Traits in Maize Lines using Retrotransposon Based Markers IRAP and REMAP

Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the most important food crops worldwide and is widely used as genetic research material for studying various traits. Identification of genetic loci controlling quantitative trait is an important subject in genetics and breeding programs. In the present study, 102 maize inbred lines was evaluated for agro-morphological traits (plant height, plant height until first ear, leaf length, leaf width, leaf surface, leaf area indexear number, chlorophyll content, grain weight per plant, cob’s dry weight, cob’s diameter in first part, cob’s diameter in middle part, cob’s length, plant dry weight, days to tassel emergence, days to first ear emergence, days to second ear emergence) in completely randomized design with six replications. In the molecular experiment, 8 retrotransposon-based molecular markers primers was used for preparing the molecular profile of lines. Eight IRAP and REMAP primer combinations amplified 40 gene loci. Thirty-eight out of 40 loci (95%) showed polymorphism. The PIC values in the studied lines ranged from 0.084 for Ac/Ds to 0.383 for Pangrangja marker. The Nei’s genetic distance between lines prepared from Mashhad and Kermanshah was 0.053, between lines from Karaj and Mashhad was 0.036 and between lines from Kermanshah and Karaj was 0.032. In the analysis of population structure based on molecular markers, 102 studied lines were grouped into two subpopulations (K = 2). In the association analysis of agro-morphological traits based on two GLM and MLM methods, 24 and 12 marker-trait relationships were identified, respectively. In this study, two commons markers; Heartbraker (480) in cob’s diameter in first part and cob’s length and UBC878 × Ruda in ear number and grain weight per plant were identified with both general linear and mixed linear models. This information can be used in selecting individuals during tobacco breeding programs and developing varieties with high yield and performance.