Genetic variability of maize breeding material - Zea mays L

Abstract

A study has been conducted in order to assess genetic variability in three maize populations, which are part of breeding material of Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops in Novi Sad. Variability has been analyzed for seven enzymes. PGM enzyme was monomorphic while enzymes ACP, GLU, IDH, MDH, PHI and PGD had from 2 to 5 alleles. In the total sample which consisted of 228 lines, 34 alleles were found. The greatest variability was found in Pgd1 and Pgd2. The average heterozygosities of loci per population were from 0.203 to 0.274, and polymorphism varied between 0.727 and 0.818. The genetic distances and heterozigosities among the populations marked them as suitable material for selecting parental pairs in development of maize hybrids.

Keywords

• allelic variability
• genetic variability
• isozymes
• populations