Reciprocal differences in sugary x sugary enhancer sweet corn hybrids

Abstract

Reciprocal effects in sugary x sugary enhancer hybrids of sweet corn (Zea mays L.) have been only reported for sugar content and in a very limited number of hybrids and have not been determined for agronomic traits. By evaluating 34 sugary x sugary enhancer hybrids with reciprocals in three environments, the main objectives of this work were, for agronomic and quality traits, to determine the presence or absence of reciprocal differences in the sugary x sugary enhancer hybrids, to study the interest of using sugary inbreds as seed parents of the sugary x sugary enhancer hybrids, and to determine if reciprocal differences are interacting with different genetic backgrounds and different environments. For agronomic traits as emergence, early vigor, and silking date, significant (P ≤ 0.05) reciprocal differences were found in many of the sugary x sugary enhancer hybrids, but for quality traits, significant (P ≤ 0.05) reciprocal differences were only found in a few hybrids. The sugary lines as seed parents of the crosses tended to have on average a favorable effect on agronomic traits, but this was only considerable in some environmental conditions. The difference between the sugary and sugary enhancer lines as seed parent of the crosses was strongly influenced by the genetic background.