The Genetic Architecture of Maize Flowering Time
Flowering time is a complex trait that controls adaptation of plants to their local environment in
the outcrossing species Zea mays (maize). We dissected variation for flowering time with a set of
5000 recombinant inbred lines (maize Nested Association Mapping population, NAM). Nearly a
million plants were assayed in eight environments but showed no evidence for any single largeeffect
quantitative trait loci (QTLs). Instead, we identified evidence for numerous small-effect QTLs
shared among families; however, allelic effects differ across founder lines. We identified no
individual QTLs at which allelic effects are determined by geographic origin or large effects for
epistasis or environmental interactions. Thus, a simple additive model accurately predicts flowering
time for maize, in contrast to the genetic architecture observed in the selfing plant species rice
and Arabidopsis.
Publication Date: 2009
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