REDIPLOID MAIZE LINES: (RESYNTHESIZED FROM A TETRAPLOID POPULATION FOR BREEDING HYBRID MAIZE)

The catalogue was compiled based on the results of studying the breeding value of 200 accessions of rediploid lines isolated from tetraploid maize populations with a description of 37 morphological traits, which have economic and breeding importance. The catalogue is addressed to geneticists, breeders and agronomists to be used as a starting material for breeding hybrid forage and food maize in the Russian Federation.

Combining ability and response to CMS in reverse diploid maize lines developed at VIR

Hybrid maize breeding requires constant renewal of the source material. In this regard, broadening of genetic variation in parental lines is one of the primary tasks in heterotic hybrid breeding programs. The use of reverse diploid inbred lines derived from a tetraploid population is considered as an innovative approach to achieve this goal.Results. The investigated material comprised 106 reverse diploid (rediploid) inbred lines originating from diploid plants selected in segregating selfed progenies of triploid populations and consequently subjected to inbreeding, while triploid populations resulted from a cross between plants of a tetraploid population with a broad genetic basis and a diploid line. The use of a system of crosses with 37 sterile testers belonging to different FAO maize maturity groups allowed the evaluation of the rediploid lines’ combining ability and the response to M and C types of CMS. Field tests were conducted in 2019 in the steppe zone of Kabardino-Balkaria. Forty-six lines (43.3%) with the combining ability ranging from ultra-high to good, and 78 lines (73.6%) maintaining the CMS character were identified. Among them, 59 lines (55.7%) were maintainers for the M type CMS, 15 lines (14.1%) for C type CMS, and 4 lines maintained sterility for both CMS types. Sixteen lines (15.1%) restored pollen fertility of the forms with M type CMS, 11 lines (10.4%) were restorers for the C-type and one line turned out to be a universal restorer for both CMS types. Ranking by the “sprout - flowering of ears” interstage period duration showed that most of the lines (66.0%) with the ability to maintain sterility or restore male fertility of M and C CMS types, as well as with the combining ability from ultrahigh to good (32.6%) fell into the group with the flowering period duration of 51-55 days. According to the results of the harvested grain moisture assessment, the hybrids ♀(РГС246с × OL213) × ♂92с5986·2·3, ♀714М × ♂1/67-1 and ♀714М × ♂92н136-4, with the values of 13, 6%, 13.9%, 14.0%, respectively, were identified. The hybrids ♀714М × ♂1/67- 1 and ♀(OL563С × KL1392) × ♂92с0653 2 1 2 were characterized by the maximum value of the selection index, i.e. 5.03 and 5.13, respectively.Conclusions. The results of the studies showed the breeding value of rediploid lines as an initial material for hybrid maize breeding.

EFFECTIVE SIZE OF AUTO-TETRAPLOID POPULATION UNDER PARTIAL SELFING

Effective population size is defined as the number of breeding individual in an idealized population that would show the same amount of dispersion of allele frequencies under random genetic drift or the same amount of inbreeding as the population under consideration. Effective population size depends on the census size of the population and the mating system. In autotetraploid population, effective population size also depends on the probability of double reduction, i.e., a meiotic event when two sister chromatids end in the same gamete. In this research, we will study the effect of the probability of double reduction on the effective size of autotetraploid population reproduced by partial selfing. The formula for the effective population size was derived by equating the variance of the change in gene frequency in idealized population and its value in the autotetraploid population with arbitrary rate of partial selfing and double reduction. The resulted formula, and numerical study based on the formula, indicated that the effective size decreases by the increase of probability of double reduction and the rate of selfing. When there is complete selfing, however, the effective size is not affected by the probability of double reduction.