Survey of Maize Selections for Endosperm Lysine Content1

Abstract

Lysine and protein content from 364 white endosperm maize (Zea mays L.) plant introductions showed that 12 accessions had lysine values ≥ 0.22%. The 364 accessions included 195 dent, 28 floury, 9 popcorn, and 132 flint types. Very little difference was noted among the four types for mean lysine content. Two of the 195 dent, 22 of the 28 floury, none of the 9 popcorn, and two of the 132 flint types had opaque endosoerms. Lysine content from the whole kernel was significantly correlated (r = 0.67) with lysine content of the endosperm for 47 accessions. This indicates that about 45% of the variation in lysine content in the whole kernel can be explained by variation in endosperm lysine content. Several of the accessions should be good germplasm sources for cyclic breeding programs for increasing lysine content in normal corn without specific major endosperm mutations or as sources for upgrading the lysine level in the opaque‐2 mutant types.