| Abstract: | Information on genetic relationship is of great value to maize (Zea mays L.) breeding. The objectives of this study were: 1) to classify 22 quality protein maize (QPM) inbreds into different groups by using simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers, which included exotic tropical, subtropical and domestic temperate QPM and normal maize inbreds; 2) to examine the consistency of grouping results obtained from SSR, specific combining ability (SCA) analysis,and genetic backgrounds of these inbreds. A set of 39 polymorphic SSR primers was selected from 70 primer pairs, which detected 136 alleles among the 22 lines. The mean polymorphism information content was 0.55. Based on analysis of genetic similarities, five groups were identified including Luda Red Cob, Sipingtou, Reid, Lancaster and a miscellaneous group with several tropical inbreds which could not be classified into the above four groups. The results generally agreed with previous results based on analysis of yield combining ability and pedigree data. |
