RESTRICTION-FRAGMENT-LENGTH-POLYMORPHISMS CAN DIFFERENTIATE AMONG UNITED-STATES MAIZE HYBRIDS

Previous methods to differentiate U.S. maize hybrids using biochemical data have been criticized on the basis that the genome has been inadequately sampled. The objective of this study was to utilize an additional set of highly polymorphic genetic markers (restriction fragment length polymorphisms; RFLPs) to establish the degree to which these data discriminate among 78 elite maize (Zea mays L.) U.S. hybrids selected with a bias toward including hybrid pairs previously undifferentiated by biochemical data. Thirty-eight probes revealed 288 RFLP variants across all hybrids. RFLP and biochemical data clustered most hybrids into similar groupings. For those hybrids of known pedigree, distances between hybrids on the basis of pedigree showed a correlation of r = 0.91 with RFLP distances. Where available, field performance data gave identical groupings of hybrids as were shown by RFLP data. These data show that RFLPs can provide a practical means of differentiating hybrids.