QTL mapping of resistance to Sporisorium reiliana in maize.

We mapped and characterized quantitative trait loci (QTL) for resistance to Sporisorium reiliana. A population of 220 F(3) families produced from the cross of two European elite inbreds (D32, D145) was evaluated with two replications at a French location with high natural incidence of S. reiliana and at a Chinese location employing artificial inoculation. The 220 F(3) families were genotyped with 87 RFLP and seven SSR markers. Using composite interval mapping, we identified two different sets of 3 and 8 QTL for the French and the Chinese locations explaining 13% and 44% of respectively. Individual QTL explained up to 14% of σ^(2) (p). The 11 QTL mapped to eight maize chromosomes and displayed mostly additive or partial dominant gene action. Significant digenic epistatic interactions were detected for one pair of these QTL. Only a few QTL for S. reiliana were in common with QTL for resistance to Ustilago maydis and Puccinia sorghi, identified at a German location for the same population. Consequently, in our materials resistance to these three fungal pathogens of maize seems to be inherited independently.