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Updated: Jul 16, 2026
Lignin Down-regulation of Zea mays via dsRNAi and Klason Lignin Analysis
Published on: July 23, 2014
Genetic analysis of QTLs for lysine content in four maize DH populations
Xiaolei Zhang1,2, Hongtao Wen1,2, Jing Wang1,2
1Quality and Safety Institute of Agricultural Products, Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China.
Background:
Low levels of the essential amino acid lysine in maize endosperm is considered to be a major problem regarding the nutritional quality of food and feed. Increasing the lysine content of maize is important to improve the quality of food and feed nutrition. Although the genetic basis of quality protein maize (QPM) has been studied, the further exploration of the quantitative trait loci (QTL) underlying lysine content variation still needs more attention.
Results:
Eight maize inbred lines with increased lysine content were used to construct four double haploid (DH) populations for identification of QTLs related to lysine content. The lysine content in the four DH populations exhibited continuous and normal distribution. A total of 12 QTLs were identified in a range of 4.42-12.66% in term of individual phenotypic variation explained (PVE) which suggested the quantitative control of lysine content in maize. Five main genes involved in maize lysine biosynthesis pathways in the QTL regions were identified in this study.
Conclusions:
The information presented will allow the exploration of candidate genes regulating lysine biosynthesis pathways and be useful for marker-assisted selection and gene pyramiding in high-lysine maize breeding programs.
