Wang Yancui, Wang Shukai, Lu Dusheng, Chen Ming, Li Baokun, Li Zhenhong, Su Haixiao, Sun Jing, Xu Pingping, Chen Cuixia
College of Agronomy, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai'an 271018, China.
Int J Mol Sci. 2025 Apr 7;26(7):3437. doi: 10.3390/ijms26073437.
Husk number (HN) trait is an important factor affecting maize kernel dehydration rate after the physiological maturity stage. In general, a reasonable reduction in HN is a key target sought for breeding maize varieties that are suitable for mechanized harvesting. In this study, the HN of a maize natural population panel containing 232 inbred lines was analyzed, and the results showed a broad-sense heritability of 0.89, along with a wide range of phenotypic variation. With the best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) values across the three environments, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) was conducted using 995,106 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. A total of 16 SNPs significantly associated with HN were identified by the mixed linear model and general linear model using the TASSEL 5.0 software program. A local linkage disequilibrium (LD) study was performed to infer the candidate interval around the lead SNPs. A total of 19 functionally annotated genes were identified. The candidate genes were divided into multiple functional types, including transcriptional regulation, signal transduction, and metabolic and cellular transport. These results provide hints for the understanding of the genetic basis of the HN trait and for the breeding of maize varieties with fewer HN and faster dehydration rate.
穗行数（HN）性状是影响玉米生理成熟阶段后籽粒脱水速率的重要因素。一般来说，合理降低穗行数是培育适合机械化收获玉米品种的关键目标。本研究分析了包含232个自交系的玉米自然群体面板的穗行数，结果显示广义遗传力为0.89，表型变异范围广泛。利用三个环境下的最佳线性无偏预测（BLUP）值，使用995,106个单核苷酸多态性（SNP）标记进行了全基因组关联研究（GWAS）。使用TASSEL 5.0软件程序的混合线性模型和一般线性模型共鉴定出16个与穗行数显著相关的SNP。进行了局部连锁不平衡（LD）研究以推断主效SNP周围的候选区间。共鉴定出19个具有功能注释的基因。候选基因分为多种功能类型，包括转录调控、信号转导以及代谢和细胞转运。这些结果为理解穗行数性状的遗传基础以及培育穗行数少、脱水速率快的玉米品种提供了线索。
