Development of maize inbred lines with elevated grain methionine concentration from a high methionine population

Abstract

Methionine is a nutritionally limiting amino acid in poultry diets based on maize (Zea mays L.) grain. Synthetic dietary supplements are available but are costly and not preferred by organic poultry producers. The development of high methionine maize varieties would reduce the need for supplementation. Several approaches have been reported for achieving this goal. Here, we report a novel approach that can produce diverse inbred lines with higher content of methionine than other methods. Inbred lines were developed using doubled haploid technology from a broad-based synthetic population that has undergone mass selection for grain methionine concentration.Out of 18 randomly selected inbred lines, one was significantly higher in methionine concentration than the high methionine check and 11 were not significantly different from it. The inbred lines developed in this way also exhibited useful genetic diversity for several agronomic and kernel quality traits, including flowering date, and orangeness of the kernel. This approach is an excellent complement to other breeding methods for development of varieties for production of poultry feed. Because the approach does not rely on transgenic technology, the resulting lines are suitable for use by organic producers and are well suited to organic production systems.

Composition of methionine and association with lysine and tryptophan in subtropically adapted maize breeding lines

“…Significant genotypic variation observed for methionine suggested the presence of adequate genotypic variability for effective selection, enhancement of germplasm, and development of improved hybrids (Ali et al, 2011). In agreement with our findings, Hintch et al (2023) also reported a significant G × E interaction for grain methionine. However, our results suggested that contributions from the environment and G × E interactions to the total variation were of low and negligible magnitude, thereby suggesting that the methionine concentration is less likely to be affected by environments.…”

“…Erdal et al (2019), who carried out a study on a set of 73 inbreds, reported a variation of 0.17%-0.22%, with a mean of 0.19% methionine. Recently, Hintch et al (2023) reported that the methionine concentration among the maize inbreds varied from 0.20% to 0.37%. Various genes have been considered to be involved in the higher accumulation of methionine in maize.…”

“…Similarly, Planta et al (2017) demonstrated an increase of methionine concentrations without any negative impact on growth and yield in maize. Furthermore, Hintch et al (2023) reported that the correlation between methionine concentration and kernel mass, a component trait for grain yield, was insignificant. Thus, an increase in methionine concentrations coupled with lysine and tryptophan concentrations can be combined with high yield to develop commercially productive hybrids.…”

“…Unlike QPM, high-methionine maize (HMM) has not been released and commercialized on a global scale. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop methionine-rich maize hybrids (Hintch et al, 2023).…”

Sulfur Application Improves the Nutritional Quality of Maize by Regulating the Amino Acid Balance of Grains

“…Concurrently, an increase of 30% in the concentrations of aspartic acid (Asp) was observed, which severely compromises the nutritional quality of maize [31]. Numerous studies indicate that increasing the levels of Met and Cys in maize can improve their nutritional quality [32,33]. It is argued that an increase in S storage might enhance the concentrations of Met and Cys in maize grains, thereby boosting the nutritional quality of maize grains [34,35].…”