DNA Molecular Markers Depicted Genetic Variability and Heterotic Pattern Among Maize Inbred Lines

Abstract

Crosses between lines with suitable genetic distance could lead to excellent hybrids, so the identification of genetic diversity between <em>Zea mays </em>L. inbred lines has a high priority in maize hybrid breeding programs. Here, fingerprinting of 27 maize inbred lines accompanied with lines B73 and Mo17 (as parents of commercial hybrid Sc704) were evaluated via15 Inter-Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) primers. A total of 127 bands were amplified which 107 (85.5%) out of them were polymorphic with an average PIC of 33% (between 0.44 for UBC-820 to 0.22 for ISSR-11). Classification of genotypes based on simple matching similarity coefficients and furthest neighbor (complete linkage) clustering algorithm located them into three distinguished groups. In spite of narrow information about pedigree of studied lines, results of present study expressed the existence of at least two heterotic groups in this germplasm. These findings could be applied in management and utilization of these studied lines for developing new maize hybrid.