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A USA–Africa collaborative strategy for identifying, characterizing, and developing maize germplasm with resistance to aflatoxin contamination

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Abstract

Aflatoxin contamination of maize by Aspergillus flavus poses serious potential economic losses in the US and health hazards to humans, particularly in West Africa. The Southern Regional Research Center of the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS-SRRC) and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) initiated a collaborative breeding project to develop maize germplasm with resistance to aflatoxin accumulation. Resistant genotypes from the US and selected inbred lines from IITA were used to generate backcrosses with 75% US germplasm and F1 crosses with 50% IITA and 50% US germplasm. A total of 65 S4 lines were developed from the backcross populations and 144 S4 lines were derived from the F1 crosses. These lines were separated into groups and screened in SRRC laboratory using a kernel-screening assay. Significant differences in aflatoxin production were detected among the lines within each group. Several promising S4 lines with aflatoxin values significantly lower than their respective US resistant recurrent parent or their elite tropical inbred parent were selected for resistance-confirmation tests. We found pairs of S4 lines with 75–94% common genetic backgrounds differing significantly in aflatoxin accumulation. These pairs of lines are currently being used for proteome analysis to identify resistance-associated proteins and the corresponding genes underlying resistance to aflatoxin accumulation. Following confirmation tests in the laboratory, lines with consistently low aflatoxin levels will be inoculated with A. flavus in the field in Nigeria to identify lines resistant to strains specific to both US and West Africa. Maize inbred lines with desirable agronomic traits and low levels of aflatoxin in the field would be released as sources of genes for resistance to aflatoxin production.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, USDA-ARS, New Orleans, LA, 70179, USA

    Abebe Menkir & Ranajit Bandyopadhyay

  2. Southern Regional Research Center, USDA-ARS, New Orleans, LA, 70179, USA

    Robert L. Brown & Thomas E. Cleveland

  3. Department of Plant Pathology and Crop Physiology, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA

    Zhi-yuan Chen

Authors
  1. Abebe Menkir
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  2. Robert L. Brown
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  3. Ranajit Bandyopadhyay
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  4. Zhi-yuan Chen
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  5. Thomas E. Cleveland
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert L. Brown.

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Menkir, A., Brown, R.L., Bandyopadhyay, R. et al. A USA–Africa collaborative strategy for identifying, characterizing, and developing maize germplasm with resistance to aflatoxin contamination. Mycopathologia 162, 225–232 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-006-0056-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-006-0056-3

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