Identification of High-Amylose Modifying Genes From a Maize Backcrossing Project

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Meghana R. Kunkala.
Dr. Mark Campbell, Faculty Mentor.

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In order to develop germplasm having desirable high-amylose modifiers in a high yielding background a backcross project was initiated. During the summer of 2001 lines were obtained from Dr. Linda Pollak (USDA/ARS, Ames IA) to be used as recurrent parents since they represented high yielding material. The material was advanced in a winter nursery in Puerto Rico where F1 ears (segregating F2 Kernels) were harvested. Mutant kernels were selected from these ears and planted in a summer breeding nursery during 2002. Grain from three selected ears per row was analyzed for starch amylose. From the data it appeared that high-amylose modifiers were recovered and segregated in many of the F2 ears. Although the data are limited, the distribution of the amylose values from these crosses suggests that the inheritance of the modifying genes may be qualitative in nature and therefore governed by one or a few genes.