Aflatoxin Accumulation in a Maize Diallel Cross

W. Paul Williams and Gary L. Windham
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W. Paul Williams: United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Corn Host Plant Resistance Research Unit, P.O. Box 9555, MS 39762, USA
Gary L. Windham: United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Corn Host Plant Resistance Research Unit, P.O. Box 9555, MS 39762, USA

Agriculture, 2015, vol. 5, issue 2, 1-9

Abstract: Aflatoxins, produced by the fungus Aspergillus flavus , occur naturally in maize. Contamination of maize grain with aflatoxin is a major food and feed safety problem and greatly reduces the value of the grain. Plant resistance is generally considered a highly desirable approach to reduction or elimination of aflatoxin in maize grain. In this investigation, a diallel cross was produced by crossing 10 inbred lines with varying degrees of resistance to aflatoxin accumulation in all possible combinations. Three lines that previously developed and released as sources of resistance to aflatoxin accumulation were included as parents. The 10 parental inbred lines and the 45 single crosses making up the diallel cross were evaluated for aflatoxin accumulation in field tests conducted in 2013 and 2014. Plants were inoculated with an A. flavus spore suspension seven days after silk emergence. Ears were harvested approximately 60 days later and concentration of aflatoxin in the grain determined. Parental inbred lines Mp717, Mp313E, and Mp719 exhibited low levels (3–12 ng/g) of aflatoxin accumulation. In the diallel analysis, both general and specific combining ability were significant sources of variation in the inheritance of resistance to aflatoxin accumulation. General combining ability effects for reduced aflatoxin accumulation were greatest for Mp494, Mp719, and Mp717. These lines should be especially useful in breeding for resistance to aflatoxin accumulation. Breeding strategies, such as reciprocal recurrent selection, would be appropriate.

Keywords: Aspergillus flavus; aflatoxin; maize; plant resistance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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