Analysis on Combining Ability of the Plant-type Characters of Improved Lancaster Inbred Lines

In this study,GCA(general combining ability) and SCA(special combining ability) of 8 improved Lan-caster maize lines and 4 widely used inbreds in China were analyzed in a diallel cross experiment.The results showed that the variances of general combining ability(GCA) and special combining ability(SCA) of plant height,ear height,stem diameter,tassel main axis length and tassel branch number were significant at P 0.01 level.The inbred lines N305,N575,N583,Ji853,Dan340 and Dan988 had higher grain yield.The total combining ability of N575 × Dan340 was the highest,thus was the best cross.Lines N575,N583 and N305 were better inbred lines compared with other inbred lines tested,and the grain yields of any cross between paternals were higher.Correlation analysis of plant-type characters indicated that the plant height was significantly positively correlated with the ear height and the tassel main axis length,and the ear height had greater relevance to the stem diameter.