Relative utility of agronomic, phenological, and morphological traits for assessing genotype-by-environment interaction in maize inbreds

Authors: FALCON, CELESTE - University Of Wisconsin; KAEPPLER, SHAWN - University Of Wisconsin; SPALDING, EDGAR - University Of Wisconsin; MILLER, NATHAN - University Of Wisconsin; HAASE, NICHOLAS - University Of Wisconsin; ALKHALIFAH, NASER - University Of Wisconsin; BOHN, MARTIN - University Of Illinois; Buckler, Edward - Ed; CAMPBELL, DARWIN - Iowa State University; CIAMPITTI, IGNACIO - Kansas State University; COFFEY, LISA - Iowa State University; Edwards, Jode; ERTL, DAVID - Iowa Corn Promotion Board; Flint-Garcia, Sherry; GORE, MICHAEL - Cornell University; GRAHAM, CHRISTOPHER - South Dakota State University; HIRSCH, CANDICE - University Of Minnesota; Holland, Jim - Jim; JARQUIN, DIEGO - University Of Nebraska; Knoll, Joseph - Joe; Lauter, Nicholas; LAWRENCE-DILL, CAROLYN - Iowa State University; LEE, ELIZABETH - University Of Guelph; LORENZ, AARON - University Of Minnesota; LYNCH, JONATHAN - Pennsylvania State University; MURRAY, SETH - Texas A&M University; NELSON, REBECCA - Cornell University; ROMAY, M. CINTA - Cornell University; ROCHEFORD, TORBERT - Purdue University; SCHNABLE, PATRICK - Iowa State University; Scully, Brian; Smith, Margaret; SPRINGER, NATHAN - University Of Minnesota; TUINSTRA, MITCH - Purdue University; WALTON, RENEE - Iowa State University; WELDEKIDAN, TECLEMARIAM - University Of Delaware; WISSER, RANDALL - University Of Delaware; XU, WENWEI - Texas A&M University; DE LEON, NATALIA - University Of Wisconsin

Submitted to: Crop Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/2/2019
Publication Date: 1/1/2020
Citation: Falcon, C.M., Kaeppler, S.M., Spalding, E.P., Miller, N.D., Haase, N., Alkhalifah, N., Bohn, M., Buckler IV, E.S., Campbell, D.A., Ciampitti, I., Coffey, L., Edwards, J.W., Ertl, D., Flint Garcia, S.A., Gore, M.A., Graham, C., Hirsch, C.N., Holland, J.B., Jarquin, D., Knoll, J.E., Lauter, N.C., Lawrence-Dill, C.J., Lee, E.C., Lorenz, A., Lynch, J.P., Murray, S.C., Nelson, R., Romay, M., Rocheford, T., Schnable, P., Scully, B.T., Smith, M.C., Springer, N., Tuinstra, M., Walton, R., Weldekidan, T., Wisser, R.J., Xu, W., De Leon, N. Relative utility of agronomic, phenological, and morphological traits for assessing genotype-by-environment interaction in maize inbreds. Crop Science. 2020; 60:62-81. https://doi.org/10.1002/csc2.20035
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/csc2.20035

Interpretive Summary: Developing cultivars that are highly productive across wide geographical areas, variable weather patterns and different management practices remains a major challenge in U.S. Agriculture. A study was conducted to evaluate a set of maize inbred lines across a very wide range of different environments to explore factors that underlie stability of performance. Stability was not found to be related to performance, which is important because this means that it is possible to develop high performing and stable cultivars. Performance was more stable in midwest locations than eastern and western locations. These results will benefit breeders and geneticists and will ultimately help to design breeding programs that produce more stable cultivars.

Technical Abstract: An improved understanding of genotype-by-environment interaction (G × E) may enable plant breeders to breed more comprehensively for expanded geographical regions. In this study of 31 maize inbreds grown in 36 environments that are part of the Genomes to Fields Initiative, we measured 14 traits, including flowering date, height, and yield-components and sought to: 1) identify traits that are the most sensitive indicators of G × E, 2) determine how differences in geographical location and weather factors influence environments’ discriminability among inbred lines, and 3) detect patterns of stability in better and worse discriminating environments. Genotype-by-environment interaction explained between 9.0 and 20.4% of the phenotypic variance with greater effects on most of the yield-component traits, suggesting that future studies of G × E will benefit from including these traits. Discriminability of environments varied by trait. Midwest locations (where 26 of the 31 inbreds were originally developed) were among the most discriminating environments for more traits, while environments in the West and East tended to be among the least discriminating environments. Stability of genotypes varied by trait, and in most cases, performance was not correlated with stability. With a few exceptions, stability tended to be higher in the Midwest compared to more Western and Eastern locations. At the same time, stability is not desired for all traits, as it is better for plants to achieve their greatest potential in good environments for traits contributing to improved yield. The dissection of complex traits such as yield into components traits appears to be a useful approach to understand how components of the environment can differentially affect the expression of phenotypes.