IDENTIFICATION OF GENOMIC REGIONS AFFECTING PLANT HEIGHT AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH GRAIN-YIELD IN AN ELITE MAIZE CROSS

QTLs for plant height were identified in a F2 segregating population d erived from a single cross between two elite maize inbred lines (B73 a nd A7) and testcrossed with two genetically divergent inbreds. The num ber of QTLs detected largely depended on the tester and ranged from on e (tester Mo17) to four (tester A1). Our results suggest that Mo17 con tributed dominant or partially dominant alleles at two of the QTLs ide ntified in testcrosses with A1 and not detected in testcrosses with Mo 17. All QTLs identified were located in proximity of major genes that affect plant height and where QTLs for plant height have been identifi ed in other segregating populations. Two of them mapped in the same ma rker intervals as QTLs for grain yield detected in the same segregatio ng population. The direction of the effects of allelic substitution wa s also consistent. These results may be explained by pleiotropy or tig ht linkage.