Cold tolerance of the photosynthetic apparatus: Pleiotropic relationship between photosynthetic performance and specific leaf area of maize seedlings

• Published in: Molecular breeding Vol. 16; no. 4; pp. 321 - 331
• Main Authors: Hund, A, Frascaroli, E, Leipner, J, Jompuk, C, Stamp, P, Fracheboud, Y
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Nature B.V 01.11.2005
• Subjects: chlorophyll; chromosome mapping; cold; Cold tolerance; Corn; fluorescence; Gene mapping; Genetic relationship; Genotypes; Inbreeding; Leaf area; leaf greenness; Low temperature; Mapping; Molecular biology; Night; Photosynthesis; Photosynthetic apparatus; Photosystem II; Plant biology; Pleiotropy; Populations; Quantitative trait loci; Seedlings; specific leaf area; Temperature dependence; Temperature effects; Zea mays
• ISSN: 1380-3743; 1572-9788
• DOI: 10.1007/s11032-005-1642-7

The objective of this study was to elucidate the genetic relationship between the specific leaf area (SLA) and the photosynthetic performance of maize (Zea mays L.) as dependent on growth temperature. Three sets of genotypes: (i) 19 S5 inbred lines, divergently selected for high or low operating efficiency of photosystem II ((phi)PSII) at low temperature, (ii) a population of 226 F2:3 families from the cross of ETH-DL3 x ETH-DH7, and (iii) a population of 168 F2:4 families from the cross of Lo964 x Lo1016 were tested at low (15/13 °C day/night) or at optimal (25/22 °C day/night) temperature. The latter cross was originally developed to study QTLs for root traits. At 15/13 °C the groups of S5 inbred lines selected for high or low (phi)PSII differed significantly for all the measured traits, while at optimal temperature the groups differed only with regard to leaf greenness (SPAD). At low temperature, the SLA of these inbred lines was negatively correlated with (phi)PSII (r = -0.56, p < 0.05) and SPAD (r = -0.80, p < 0.001). This negative relationship was confirmed by mapping quantitative trait loci (QTL) in the two mapping populations. A co-location of three QTLs for SLA with QTLs for photosynthesis-related traits was detected in both populations at 15/13 °C, while co-location was not detected at 25/22 °C. The co-selection of SLA and FPSII in the inbred lines and the co-location of QTL for SLA, SPAD, and (phi)PSII at 15/13 °C in the QTL populations strongly supports pleiotropy. There was no evidence that selecting for high (phi)PSII at low temperature leads to a constitutively altered SLA.