Biplot analysis of diallel crosses of NS maize inbred lines

Abstract

Genetic markers, from morphological to molecular, in function with early Heterosis is a prerequisite for the successful commercial maize production. It does not appear in any cross of two inbred lines, and therefore, the determination of combining abilities of parental lines is essential. The most commonly used method for determining combining abilities is diallel analysis. Besides conventional methods for diallel analysis, a new biplot approach has been sugested. In this paper, we studied the combining ability for grain yield in a set of genotypes obtained by diallel crossing system of six inbred lines. Both, the Griffing’s conventionalmethod and the biplot approach have been used for diallel analysis. Comparing the GCA values from biplot analysis and Griffing’s method, similar results can be observed, with the exception of NS L 1051 and NS L 1000 whose ranks are interchanged. Biplot analysis enables the SCA estimation of parent inbred, and the highest SCA has inbred B73D. Biplot analysis also allows the estimation of the best crosses. Inbred B73D shows the best results when crossed with testers Mo17Ht, NS L 1051 and N152, inbred N152 combines best with testers NS L 1001 and NS L 1000, whereas the cross of inbred NS L 1051 with tester B73D results with the highest grain yield per plant in comparison with other testers.