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Background <p>The ear of maize is a highly domesticated organ that has undergone a substantial increase in volume compared to its wild ancestor teosinte, resulting in a significant yield enhancement in modern cultivated maize. Application of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) mapping using the maize-teosinte segregation population facilitated the identification of more potential favorable variations for utilization in cultivation. However, the mature ear traits of the maize-teosinte population are influenced by genetic introgression from teosinte, which poses significant challenges to the investigation of yield-related traits due to abnormal sex differentiation of the inflorescence at the immature ear stage.</p> Results <p>This study investigated mature ear traits along with the activity of the female inflorescence meristem (IM) using a Teosinte‑Maize introgression (TM) population via measuring the IM size. A total of 32 QTLs were detected across multiple environments over several years, with individual QTLs explaining 5.18% to 21.48% of the phenotypic variation. Notably, a major pleiotropic QTL regulating IM size and many ear traits was identified and narrowed to a 3.64&#xa0;cM genetic interval on chromosome 3, namely qIM3. One candidate gene encoding <i>ZmEREB147</i> (<i>Zm00001d043205</i>) was identified with the help of transcriptome data, and Gene Ontology (GO) analysis demonstrated that qIM3 is involved in several hormone-mediated pathways and meristem development.</p> Conclusions <p>The rapid implementation of these findings in maize molecular breeding holds important potential application value and provides broad prospects for improving maize yield.</p>

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Identification of a pleiotropic QTL and candidate genes underlying ear traits of maize (Zea mays L.) through controlling the activity of inflorescence meristem

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月21日

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  • Xiaomeng Shen,
  • Yifei Wang,
  • Luyuan Wang,
  • Yan Bai,
  • Fenglin Jiang,
  • Luling Jiang,
  • Xiangyin Hou,
  • Jinsheng Lai,
  • Liru Cao,
  • Weibin Song

摘要

Background

The ear of maize is a highly domesticated organ that has undergone a substantial increase in volume compared to its wild ancestor teosinte, resulting in a significant yield enhancement in modern cultivated maize. Application of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) mapping using the maize-teosinte segregation population facilitated the identification of more potential favorable variations for utilization in cultivation. However, the mature ear traits of the maize-teosinte population are influenced by genetic introgression from teosinte, which poses significant challenges to the investigation of yield-related traits due to abnormal sex differentiation of the inflorescence at the immature ear stage.

Results

This study investigated mature ear traits along with the activity of the female inflorescence meristem (IM) using a Teosinte‑Maize introgression (TM) population via measuring the IM size. A total of 32 QTLs were detected across multiple environments over several years, with individual QTLs explaining 5.18% to 21.48% of the phenotypic variation. Notably, a major pleiotropic QTL regulating IM size and many ear traits was identified and narrowed to a 3.64 cM genetic interval on chromosome 3, namely qIM3. One candidate gene encoding ZmEREB147 (Zm00001d043205) was identified with the help of transcriptome data, and Gene Ontology (GO) analysis demonstrated that qIM3 is involved in several hormone-mediated pathways and meristem development.

Conclusions

The rapid implementation of these findings in maize molecular breeding holds important potential application value and provides broad prospects for improving maize yield.