Efficiency of the backcrossing method in dihaploid maize breeding

The doubled haploid (DH) lines, obtained by doubling the haploid genome, are now widely used in breeding many crops, since they allow to transfer gene variants to the homozygous state in a short time. However, the advantages of doubled haploids are not fully utilized in maize breeding. The present work is devoted to the evaluation of the backcrossing method efficiency and to further development of the original schemes of creating highly productive homozygous maize lines on the basis of DH lines originating from an interline F1 hybrid. Rf7 and Ku123 maize lines were used as the initial material. The breeding cycle consisted of producing haploid plants in the selected genotype (matroclinic haploidy using an inducer), subsequent chromosome doubling (colchicine‑induced or spontaneous), followed by multiplication of the doubled haploids for obtaining a new set of DH lines. In the first cycle, the DH lines were obtained from the F1 hybrid (Rf7 × Ku123), while in the subsequent cycles they were obtained from the genotypes obtained by crossing a DH line selected from the previous cycle with F1, P1 or P2. Three cycles of selection for productivity were performed, and in 2017 the DH lines obtained in all cycles were simultaneously tested in the field. The breeding progress was estimated by the increase in the first ear productivity compared to the best parent Rf7 (103.9 g per plant in 2017). The first selection cycle resulted in 43 DH lines obtained on the basis of the F1 hybrid. Productivity of the best line rk‑5 amounted to 112.5 g per plant. Three lines (rk‑6, rk‑5 and rk‑22) selected for the next cycle were further crossed with F1 or with the parental line Rf7. The second selection cycle yielded three series containing 41, 49 and 16 lines, while productivity of the best genotypes was 121.2, 117.0 и 107.1 g per plant, respectively. The third cycle included populations of 24 and 8 lines obtained through backcrosses with Rf7 and Ku123 lines, respectively. The best genotypes in these series had productivity of 135.6 and 97.7 g per plant. As a result of selection, the obtained rk‑433 line had a productivity 30.5% higher than that of the best parent Rf7. The progress averaged 10.2% per cycle. In maize breeding using doubled haploids it is promising to use backcrosses of the selected DH lines with the initial material or with F1. Thanks to such an approach, a noticeable progress can be reached with a small number of cycles including from 20 to 50 DH lines.