Molecular markers and protein quantities as genetic descriptors in maize. I. Genetic diversity among 21 inbred lines.

Twenty-one maize (Zea mays L.) inbred lines were analysed using isozyme electrophoresis, restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), and two-dimensional electrophoresis of denatured proteins (2-D PAGE). Our goal was (1) to assess the genetic variability among these lines which are potential progenitors for the development of forage maize hybrids in Europe, and (2) to compare the relationship pattern revealed by the polymorphism at marker loci with the one derived from the amount of protein variability assessed by computer-assisted analysis of the 2-D electrophoregrams. Fourteen markers were obtained from isozyme polymorphism, 84 from the restriction fragment length polymorphism, and 70 from protein shifts revealed by 2-D PAGE. The Rogers' distance computed on the set of molecular markers was the most efficient to describe the pedigree relationships between lines. Quantitative protein data gave a picture of relationships between lines clearly different from the monogenic markers. When unrelated pairs of lines were considered, the Rogers' distance was weakly correlated to distances based on quantitative variations in the amount of protein which may be consistent with their polygenic control and the occurrence of gene interactions.