Registration of Mp718 and Mp719 Germplasm Lines of Maize

Abstract

Maize (Zea mays L.) germplasm lines Mp718 (Reg. No. GP‐581, PI 662045) and Mp719 (Reg. No. GP‐582, PI 662046) were developed and released by USDA‐ARS in cooperation with the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, Mississippi State, MS, as sources of resistance to aflatoxin accumulation. Aflatoxin is a potent carcinogen produced by the fungus Aspergillus flavus Link: Fries and occurs naturally in maize. Mp718 and Mp719 were developed from a cross between Mp715 (PI 614819), a line selected from ‘Tuxpan’ for resistance to aflatoxin accumulation, and Va35 (PI 587150), a nonstiff stalk line. These lines were evaluated for resistance to aflatoxin accumulation in a series of eight experiments conducted in Mississippi from 2004 through 2010. Neither Mp718 nor Mp719 differed from Mp715, their resistant parent, in aflatoxin accumulation, but both lines reached midsilk 13 d earlier and sustained less lodging than Mp715. Both Mp718, designated as Mp04:96 during development, and Mp719, designated as Mp04:97, exhibited excellent levels of resistance to aflatoxin accumulation in crosses with NC388. The level of resistance to aflatoxin accumulation exhibited by Mp718 and Mp719, as both germplasm lines or in single crosses, indicates that they should be reliable sources of resistance for maize breeding programs.