Performance of double-haploid tropical super sweet corn lines in a partial diallel
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5433/1679-0359.2025v46n2p533Keywords:
Combining ability, Elite lines, Breeding, Zea mays L. var. saccharataAbstract
Brazilian super sweet corn production is predominantly directed toward the canning industry, which demands high yields, uniformity, and production quality, characteristics provided by hybrid cultivars derived from inbred lines. Double-haploid (DH) technology is being employed to reduce the production time for completely homozygous lines and to enhance the exploitation of heterosis in hybrid combinations for common corn. However, its application remains underexplored in super sweet corn. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the potential of DH super sweet corn lines in hybrid synthesis, identify elite DH lines for use as testers in top crosses, and determine the predominant type of gene action for key traits in super sweet corn breeding, along with their correlations. Twenty-nine combinations of DH lines derived from four super sweet populations and six checks were evaluated at the School Farm/UEL during the 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 harvest seasons using a randomized block design with three replicates. The following traits were evaluated: husked and dehusked ear yields, grain yield, plant and ear heights, ear length and diameter, number of grain rows per ear, agronomic performance, and Brix degree. Significant differences were observed between harvest seasons for all traits, with the 2020/2021 harvest season yielding superior results. Treatment × Harvest Season interactions were significant only for ear diameter and agronomic performance. On average, across both harvest seasons, 38% of the diallel hybrids outperformed the commercial checks, which were grouped with the average performance of the remaining hybrids. Lines L1 and L5 showed the highest general combining ability (GCA) estimates for husked and dehusked ear and grain yields, with values of 2244 and 2627; 1260 and 1388; and 811 and 1000 kg ha⁻¹, respectively, making them candidates for use as testers in future studies. Among the most productive hybrids, the highest specific combining ability (SCA) estimates for husked and dehusked ear and grain yields were observed in hybrids HA5, HB2, and HC12, with values ranging from 4685 to 1947, 2829 to 1329, and 1680 to 1095 kg ha⁻¹, respectively. Both additive and non-additive gene actions were found to be important for most of the evaluated traits. Dehusked ear yield exhibited the strongest correlation with grain yield, suggesting its potential use as a selection criterion for identifying more productive genotypes suitable for canned corn production.
Downloads
References
Agricultural Marketing Resource Center (2022). Sweet corn. https://www.agmrc.org/commodities-products/vegetables/sweet-corn
Carena, M. J., Hallauer, A. R., & Miranda, J. B., Fº. (2010). Quantitative genetics in maize breeding. Springer New York.
Chaikam, V., Molenaar, W., Melchinger, A. E., & Boddupalli, P. M. (2019). Doubled haploid technology for line development in maize: technical advances and prospects. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 132, 3227-3243. doi: 10.1007/s00122-019-03433-x
Cruz, C. D. (2006). Modelos biométricos aplicados ao melhoramento genético. UFV.
Eder, J., & Chalyk, S. (2002). In vivo haploid induction in maize. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 104, 703-708. doi: 10.1007/s00122-001-0773-4
Elayaraja, K., Gadag, R. N., Kumari, J., Singode, A., & Paul, D. (2014). Analysis of combining ability in experimental hybrids of sweet corn (Zea mays var. saccharata). Indian Journal of Genetics and Plant Breeding, 74(3), 387-391. doi: 10.5958/0975-6906.2014.00859.1
Gava, E., Faria, M. V., Zaluski, W. L., Rosa, J. C., Paiva, E. A., & Chiquito, N. R. (2021). Agronomic performance of experimental super sweet corn hybrids. Horticultura Brasileira, 39(2), 199-204. doi: 10. 1590/s0102-0536-20210211
Griffing, B. R. U. C. E. (1956). Concept of general and specific combining ability in relation to diallel crossing systems. Australian Journal of Biological Sciences, 9(4), 463-493. doi: 10.1071/BI9560463
Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (2016). Pesquisa industrial anual. https://www.ibge.gov.br/ estatisticas-novoportal/economicas/industria/9044-pesquisa-industrial-anualproduto.html?=&t= resultados
Khulbe, R. K., & Pattanayak, A. (Eds.) (2021). Doubled haploid production in maize using in vivo maternal haploid induction system. Genetics, 1, 5-7. http://krishi.icar.gov.in/jspui/handle/123456789/52732
Kwiatkowski, A., & Clemente, E. (2007). Características do milho doce (Zea mays L.) para industrialização. Revista Brasileira de Tecnologia Agroindustrial, 1(2), 99-103. doi: 10.3895/S1981-36862007000200010
Kwiatkowski, A., Clemente, E., & Scapim, C. A. (2011). Agronomic traits and chemical composition of single hybrids of sweet corn. Horticultura Brasileira, 29(4), 531-536. doi: 10.1590/S0102-05362011000400015
Lemos, M. A., Gama, E. E. G., Menezes, D., Santos, V. F. D., & Tabosa, J. N. (2002). Avaliação de dez linhagens e seus híbridos de milho superdoce em um dialelo completo. Horticultura Brasileira, 20(2), 167-170. doi: 10.1590/S0102-05362002000200009
Luz, J. M., Camilo, J. S., Barbieri, V. H., Rangel, R. M., & Oliveira, R. C. (2014). Produtividade de genótipos de milho doce e milho verde em função de intervalos de colheita. Horticultura Brasileira, 32(2), 163-167. doi: 10.1590/HB.V32I2.49
Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento (2024). CultivarWeb. https://sistemas.agricultura.gov.br/ snpc/cultivarweb/cultivares_registradas.php
Oliveira, R. G. de. (2018). Análise dialélica e divergência genética entre populações de milho superdoce Dissertação de mestrado, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Londrina, PR, Brasil. https://repositorio. uel.br/handle/123456789/8822
Pereira, I. A., Fº., Cruz, J. C., & Gama, E. E. G. (2002). Cultivares de milho para o consumo verde. EMBRAPA Milho e Sorgo.
Sekiya, A., Pestana, J. K., Silva, M. G. B. D., Krause, M. D., Silva, C. R. M. D., & Ferreira, J. M. (2020). Haploid induction in tropical supersweet corn and ploidy determination at the seedling stage. Pesquisa Agropecuária Brasileira, 55, e00968. doi: 10.1590/s1678-3921.pab2020.v55.00968
Senhorinho, H. J. C., Pinto, R. J. B., Scapim, C. A., Milani, K. F., & Nihei, T. H. (2015). Capacidades combinatórias e depressão por endogamia de híbridos comerciais de milho. Semina: Ciências Agrárias, 36(6 Supl2), 4133-4150. doi: 10.5433/1679-0359.2015v36n6Supl2p4133
Solomon, K. F., Zeppa, A., & Mulugeta, S. D. (2012). Combining ability, genetic diversity and heterosis in relation to F1 performance of tropically adapted shrunken (sh2) sweet corn lines. Plant Breeding, 131(3), 430-436. doi: 10.1111/J.1439-0523.2012.01965.X
Souza, R. S., Vidigal, P. S., Fº., Scapim, C. A., Marques, O. J., Queiroz, D. C., Okumura, R. S., Reche, D. L., & Cortinove, V. B. (2013). Produtividade e qualidade do milho doce em diferentes populações de plantas. Semina: Ciências Agrárias, 34(3), 995-1009. doi: 10.5433/1679-0359
Sprague, G. F., & Tatum, L. A. (1942). General vs. specific combining ability in single crosses of corn. Journal of the American Society of Agronomy, 34, 923-932. doi: 10.2134/AGRONJ1942.000219620034001000 08X
Teixeira, F. F., Miranda, R. A. de, Paes, M. C. D., Sousa, S. M. de, & Gama, E. E. (2013). Melhoramento do milho-doce. EMBRAPA Milho e Sorgo. https://www.embrapa.br/busca-de-publicacoes/-/publicacao/ 967082/melhoramento-do-milho-doce
Tracy, W. F (2001). Sweet Corn. In A. R. Hallauer, Speciality Corns (2a ed., pp. 131-154). Boca Raton, FL.
Trentin, H. U., Batîru, G., Frei, U. K., Dutta, S., & Lübberstedt, T. (2022). Investigating the effect of the interaction of maize inducer and donor backgrounds on haploid induction rates. Plants, 11(12), 1527. doi: 10.3390/plants11121527
Trentin, H. U., Frei, U. K., & Lübberstedt, T. (2020). Breeding maize maternal haploid inducers. Plants, 9(5), 614. doi: 10.3390/plants9050614
Vencovsky, R. (1987). Herança quantitativa. In E. Paterniani, & G. P. Viegas (Eds.), Melhoramento e produção do milho (2a ed., pp. 137-214). Campinas.
Vencovsky, R., & Barriga, P. (1992). Genética biométrica no fitomelhoramento. SBG.
Xavier, L. F. S., Pestana, J. K., Sekiya, A., Krause, M. D., Moreira, R. M. P., & Ferreira, J. M. (2019). Partial diallel and potential of super sweet corn inbred lines bt 2 to obtain hybrids. Horticultura Brasileira, 37(3), 278-284. doi: 10.1590/s0102-053620190305
Zhang, Z., Qiu, F., Liu, Y., Ma, K., Li, Z., & Xu, S. (2008). Chromosome elimination and in vivo haploid production induced by Stock 6-derived inducer line in maize (Zea mays L.). Plant Cell Reports, 27, 1851-1860. doi: 10.1007/s00299-008-0601-2
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Vitor Joaquim de Lucena, Juliana Moraes Machado de Oliveira, Bruno Figueiró Fregonezi, Iran de Azevedo Duarte , João Otávio Gonçalves dos Santos, Lucas Alves Camilo, Maria Eduarda Alves de Oliveira , Otavio Gabriel Lalau Hoda , Josué Maldonado Ferreira

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Semina: Ciências Agrárias adopts the CC-BY-NC license for its publications, the copyright being held by the author, in cases of republication we recommend that authors indicate first publication in this journal.
This license allows you to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format, remix, transform and develop the material, as long as it is not for commercial purposes. And due credit must be given to the creator.
The opinions expressed by the authors of the articles are their sole responsibility.
The magazine reserves the right to make normative, orthographic and grammatical changes to the originals in order to maintain the cultured standard of the language and the credibility of the vehicle. However, it will respect the writing style of the authors. Changes, corrections or suggestions of a conceptual nature will be sent to the authors when necessary.