Genetic dissection of maydis leaf blight resistance in maize through QTL mapping.

Authors

Bhupender Kumar, Rakhi Singh, Shrikant Yankanchi, Pardeep Kumar, Pushpendra Pushpendra, Pravin Bagaria, Robin Gogoi, Prahlad Piyal, Neelam Sunil, Ajay Kumar

Published in

Molecular biology reports. Volume 53. Issue 1. Jul 15, 2026. Epub Jul 15, 2026.

Abstract

Maydis leaf blight (MLB) is a major foliar fungal disease of maize causing yield losses of up to 40% under favourable conditions. Developing resistant cultivars is the most sustainable management strategy, requiring the identification of stable resistance loci and a better understanding of the genetic architecture underlying MLB resistance across environments.
A recombinant inbred line (RIL) mapping population of 182 F₉ lines derived from susceptible HKIPC4B and resistant CML 269-1 was evaluated across seven environments (2020-2025) using an augmented block design. Disease severity and percent disease incidence ranged from 2.1 to 8.3 and 23.8-83.8%, respectively, indicating substantial phenotypic variation. Genotyping by ddRAD sequencing generated a linkage map of 6,527 SNPs spanning 2,124.30 cM, identifying 15 QTLs on chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, and 10 (LOD 3.0-20.3), explaining 6.2-13.4% of phenotypic variation. Multi-environment analysis detected four stable QTLs exhibiting QTL × environment interactions (QEI) with low QEI effects, indicating consistent expression across environments. Seven significant first-order epistatic interactions were identified, highlighting the complex genetic basis of resistance. A total of 271 candidate and 82 orthologous genes were identified within QTL intervals, including Zm00001eb268770, Zm00001eb268820, and Zm00001eb268800, which co-localized with a major QTL and have previously been associated with MLB resistance.
The identified stable QTLs, epistatic interactions, and candidate genes provide valuable genomic resources for marker-assisted breeding, candidate gene validation, and the development of durable MLB-resistant maize cultivars.

PMID:
42455223
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 15 Jul 2026.

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