Genetic distance of maize inbred lines based on SSR markers for prediction of heterosis and combining ability

Genetic distance among six elite maize inbred lines was analyzed using SSR markers. Hybrid progeny obtained by crossing inbred lines according an incomplete diallel design was tested in field trials together with inbred lines per se.The objective of this study was to determine genetic distance of inbred maize lines and to examine if a significant correlation exist between the genetic distance of parental lines and the exhibited high parent heterosis (HPH) and specific combining abilities (SCA) for grain yield, ear lenght, kernel row numberand number of kernels per row. Twenty one SSR primers were used for genetic assesment of inbreds with detected 92 alleles. Genetically most distant lines were ZPL1 and ZPL5 and ZPL6 with the GD value of 0.549, while the closest one were ZPL2 and ZPL3 with GD value of 0.11. The dendrogram distinguished two main groups of inbreds: ZPL5 and ZPL6 grouped in a smaller cluster and ZPL1, ZPL2, ZPL3 and ZPL4 forming the second cluster. Values of the Spearman?s rank correlation coefficient between genetic distance among inbred lines based on SSR markers and SCA for all analyzed traits were positive and significant with the exception of rows per ear. Highest correlation was exhibited between the genetic distance and SCA for number of kernels per row (0.643). Spearman?s rank correlation coefficient between GD and high parent heterosis was positive and significant for ear length and kernel number in row with coefficient values of 0.554 and 0.611, respectively.