Associative mapping to identify candidate genes related to a lower incidence of fumonisin in corn kernels.
Fusarium verticillioides; GWAS- Genome Wide Association Study; mycotoxins; plant
genetic improvement; quantitative characteristic.
Corn production faces a number of diseases that cause contamination and are hazardous to health,
decreasing yield and profit. Thus, plant breeding is one of the most effective and environmentally
safe methods to control fungal infections and increase resistance to the incidence of fumonisin.
However, conventional breeding can be hampered by the complex genetic architecture of resistance
to fumonisin and marker-assisted selection are proposed as efficient alternatives. The aim of the
study is to identify the genomic regions and candidate genes associated with the smallest increase
in fumonisins in maize-simple hybrid grains. A panel of 335 inbred lines of maize was evaluated
in the intermediate and elite trials of the maize breeding program of Embrapa Milho e Sorgo, in
three consecutive years. The determination of fumonisin was carried out at Embrapa Milho e Sorgo.
The strains were genotyped by sequencing (GBS), generating 374667 high quality polymorphic
SNPs. Thirty-two possible SNPs were found associated with resistance to increased fumonisin in
corn. Based on the SNPs identified in the associative analyzes, candidate genes with a possible
effect on the result of fumonisins in corn kernels, the genomic regions and the genes will be
searched. The results obtained will be compared with studies already carried out by the Embrapa
Milho e Sorgo group.