General and specific combining ability in seven Latin America maize populations

Abstract

A study was performed with the objective of estimating the effects of general (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) of seven maize (Zea mays L.) populations introduced from six Latin America countries. The evaluation was done at Sete Lagoas, MG, Brazil, in a Latosol (oxisol). The 32 treatments were evaluated in a randomized complete block design with two replications. Data were collected for the following characters: days to male flowering (DF), plant height (PH) and ear production (EP). High significance variation (P < 0,01) to genotypes and also for GCA and SCA for the three characters studied was shown. The additive genetic components (GCA) were more important for DF and EP than for PH. The best combinations measured were attained with the crosses between Camélia x Composto 1, Suwan x SRF and Suwan x Composto 1 for the character EP. In relation to GCA, the populations Suwan and SRF showed the highest values for PH and EP. The results obtained in this study are indicative of the potential of some of these populations to be used in a breeding program.