Content area
Full Text
About the Authors:
Jason A. Peiffer
* E-mail: [email protected]
Current address: Department of Genetics, Bioinformatics Research Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America
Affiliation: Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
Sherry A. Flint-Garcia
Affiliation: Plant Genetics Research Unit, USDA-Agricultural Research Service and Division of Plant Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, United States of America
Natalia De Leon
Affiliation: Department of Agronomy, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
Michael D. McMullen
Affiliation: Plant Genetics Research Unit, USDA-Agricultural Research Service and Division of Plant Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, United States of America
Shawn M. Kaeppler
Affiliation: Department of Agronomy, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
Edward S. Buckler
Affiliations Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America, United States Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service, Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture and Health, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
Introduction
Maize stalk strength impacts grain yield and silage quality due to its relationship with stalk lodging and stover quality. High stalk strength is important in fields plagued by European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis H. [1], and Southwestern corn borer, Diatraea grandiosella D. [2]. Stalk strength also affects colonization of fungal pathogens such as Gibberella zeae [3] and Diplodia zeae [4]. High winds and soils with poor nitrogen to phosphorous ratios [5] increase stalk lodging in weak genotypes as well.
Dissection of stalk strength into its constituent traits suggests the structural composition of the rind, and not the pith or total girth, is the chief determinant of strength [6]–[8]. Previous study of maize rinds, from populations divergently selected for stalk strength, revealed several means for enhancement [6]. From anatomical analyses, increases in vascular bundles, rind-parenchyma inter-lumen thickness, and percent hypodermal cell wall area correlated with superior strength [6]. Vegetative phase change also occurred earlier in varieties with strong stalks [9]. In addition, compositional analyses have revealed the influence of cellulose and lignin on maize stalk strength [10].
Given the numerous mechanisms mediating stalk strength and the continuous variation observed for the trait, several studies were performed to quantitatively dissect its genetic architecture [11]–[14]. In the most...