Use of GEM Germplasm for Evaluation and Development of Drought Tolerance, Corn
Earworm (CEW) Resistance, and Low Aflatoxin Level in Corn
Wenwei Xu
Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Texas A&M University System, 1102 East FM
1294, Lubbock, TX 79403. Tel.: 806-746-4015, Fax: 806-746-6528, E-mail: we-xu@tamu.edu
Objectives:
(1) Select, advance, and release stress-tolerant inbred lines from GEM germplasm; (2) Evaluate
GEM breeding crosses for drought and heat tolerance, corn ear worm resistance, and agronomic
performance in Texas.
Methods and Result:
Objective 1 - Select, advance and release stress-tolerant inbred lines from GEM germplasm:
About 100 testcrosses between GEM lines (developed in Lubbock) with public and licensed
proprietary lines were evaluated for grain yield, CEW resistance, and drought tolerance in the
Texas High Plains (Lubbock, Halfway, and Dumas) under well-watered and drought conditions
and in the south-central Texas (College Station, Corpus Christi, Ganado, Uvalde, and Wharton).
New inbred lines ANTIGO01:N16, CH05012:N12, CUBA164:S20, DK888:Na08f,
DKXL380:S08a, FS8A(T):N11a, and GUAT209:N19 are promising and were tested as line per
se and in hybrid combinations. Lines of the ANTIGO01:N16 have excellent grain quality and
highly tolerant to high temperatures, but their testcrosses have fair stalk quality. The brown
midrib lines with the background of GUAT209:N19 (bm1) and DK888:N11 (bm3) have been
developed. Testcrosses of the brown midrib (bm1) inbred lines derived from a breeding cross
involving GUAT209:N19 were evaluated for grain and silage yield and quality at Halfway and
Etter, Texas (Tables 1-3). We are in the process of releasing these lines.
Objective 2:
Thirty new GEM breeding crosses were grown under well watered and drought stressed
conditions in Lubbock and evaluated for drought tolerance, CEW resistance and agronomic
performance. This test failed due to herbicide drift damages.
Field days:
A number of corn breeders from several seed companies toured out test plots during the
crop growing season. We co-organized the Texas High Plains limited irrigation corn field day at
Etter, Texas on August 22, 2012 for corn producers, seed companies, policy makers, consultants,
agriculture professionals, and underground water conservation districts.
Publications:
1. Xinzhi Ni, Jeffrey P. Wilson, Michael D. Toews, G. David Buntin, Xin Li, Zhongren Lei,
Kanglai He, Wenwei Xu, Xianchun Li, Alisa Huffaker, and Eric A. Schmelz. 2012.
Evaluation of Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Insect Damage and Aflatoxin Level in the
Pre-Harvest Corn Fields to Improve Management Tactics. Insect Science (accepted).
2. Xinzhi Ni, Wenwei Xu, Michael H. Blanco, and Jeffrey P. Wilson. 2012. Evaluation of Corn
Germplasm Lines for Multiple Ear-Colonizing. J. Econ. Entomol. 105(4) (accepted).
3. Junping Chen, Wenwei Xu, Jeff Velten, Zhanguo Xin, and John Stout. 2012. Development
of drought and heat tolerant maize for mitigation 1 of the impact of climate change. Journal
of Soil and Water Conservation (accepted).
4. Wenwei Xu, Thomas Marek, J. Wade Howard, Jill Breeden, Casey Hardin, and Dennis
Pietsch. 2012. 2012 State Silage Corn Performance Test on the Texas High Plains. Texas
A&M AgriLife Research and Extension-Lubbock Center Technical Report No.12-4. pp.16
Abstracts and Presentations:
1. Wenwei Xu, Mike Blanco, Paul Williams, Gary Odvody. 2012. Holistic corn breeding
approach to improve abiotic and biotic and stress tolerance. Invited presentation at the
Symposium “Ecological genetics of crop plants: from traditional breeding to cisgenic and
transgenic crops” in the International Congress of Entomology. August 19-25, 2012. Daegu,
Korea.
2. Juliana Teixeira, Natalia De Leon, Sherry Flint-Garcia, Jim Holland, Nick Lauter, Seth
Murray, Wenwei Xu, David Hessel, Teclemariam Weldekidan, Adrienne Kleintop, Yogasdha
Veturi, Randall Wisser. 2012. A decade of tropical to temperate maize adaptation reveals a
potential mechanism for broad adaptation. 54th Annual Maize Genetics Conference Program
Abstract: P37. March 15-18, 2012. Portland, Oregon.
3. Teresa A. Gaus, Wenwei Xu, Yingen Xue, Seth Murray, W. Paul William, and Gary Odvody.
2012. Introgression of teosinte genes for improving yield and disease resistance in maize.
54th Annual Maize Genetics Conference Program Abstract: P149. March 15-18, 2012.
Portland, Oregon.
4. Junping Chen, Michael McMullen, John J. Burke, Wenwei Xu, and Gloria Burrow. 2012.
Mapping QTLs for heat tolerance traits in maize using NAM populations. 54th Annual
Maize Genetics Conference Program Abstract: P154. March 15-18, 2012. Portland, Oregon.
5. Randall Wisser, Natalia De Leon, Sherry Flint-Garcia, Jim Holland, Nick Lauter, Seth
Murray, Wenwei Xu, Teclemariam Weldekidan, Juliana Teixeira, Veturi Yogasdha, Naveen
Kumar, Kip Rogers, Joel Reiner, Rupa Kanchi, Layton Peddicord, and Mirrian Lopez. 2012.
The maize ATLAS project: implementation of an experimental framework for studying
adaptation. 54th Annual Maize Genetics Conference Program Abstract: P162. March 15-18,
2012. Portland, Oregon.
Invited Presentations:
1. Breeding corn for abiotic and abiotic stress tolerance through conventional and transgenic
methods. Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China. May 22, 2012.
2. Transgenic corn: development, field release, and regulatory compliance. Institute of Zoology,
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. May 25, 2012.
Table 1. Days to pollen shed (DTP), plant height (PHT), ear height (EHT), root (RTL) and stalk
lodging (STL), moisture, and grain yield of testcrosses of the lines developed from
BR52051:N04 (BR-1), GUAT209:N19 (entries 36 to 41), and UR13010:N06 (entry 43) under
well-watered conditions at Etter, Texas in 2012. The inbred lines developed from a breeding
cross involving GUAT209:N19 have the brown midrib trait controlled by bm1 gene.
ENO
6
36
37
38
39
40
41
43
45
46
47
48
49
50
DTP
Hybrids
BR-1 x SS Tester
GUAT4 x SS Tester
GUAT5/6 x SS Tester
GUAT8/9 x SS Tester
GUAT10/11/12 x SS Tester
GUAT14/15/16/17 x SS Tester
GUAT18/19/20 x SS Tester
UR13010:N06-1 x SS Tester
PHT
cm
68.0
67.0
68.0
65.0
68.0
68.0
68.0
63.0
319.0
316.0
313.0
275.0
318.0
295.0
300.0
306.0
133.0
119.0
138.0
127.0
122.0
113.0
122.0
121.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
3.3
0.8
1.7
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
18.0
20.6
18.0
19.1
19.2
19.0
19.6
18.3
207.6
172.4
168.6
176.6
169.6
194.9
178.6
201.6
%
CK
mean
96.5
80.2
78.4
82.2
78.9
90.7
83.1
93.7
BH9092VTTP
N645CBLLRW
DKC61-69
DKC67-88
P0231HR
P31G96
62.0
61.0
61.0
64.0
61.0
68.0
294.0
280.0
257.0
305.0
280.0
266.0
116.0
88.0
111.0
121.0
93.0
126.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
18.9
17.5
18.0
19.1
18.3
19.8
222.7
190.7
206.4
233.4
203.3
233.4
103.6
88.7
96.0
108.6
94.6
108.6
Test Mean of 50 entries
CK Mean
CV%
LSD 0.05
63.7
62.8
1.7
2.1
288.4 110.5
280.3 109.2
7.9
9.5
ns
21.2
0.0
0.0
ns
1.1
0.0
ns
18.9
18.6
4.2
1.6
188.8
215.0
13.9
52.6
87.8
100.0
EHT
cm
RTL
%
STL Moist
%
%
Yield
bu/a
Table 2. Means of forage yield adjusted to 65% moisture and agronomic traits of the State Silage Corn Performance Test at Etter,
Texas in 2012.
Days to
Plant
Ear
Moist.,
Yield,
Yield
ENO
Hybrid
Company
pollen shed
ht, in.
ht, in
%
tons/a
rank
1
1262 PRO2
Armor Seed
62.0
125.6
37.4
54.3
31.8
41
2
1415 PRO3
Armor Seed
63.0
110.8
33.1
55.6
32.3
38
3
1330 PRO3
Armor Seed
63.0
124.8
36.4
57.0
33.1
29
4
1550 PRO3
Armor Seed
63.0
110.2
37.0
55.2
34.5
15
5
1770 PRO3
Armor Seed
63.0
107.6
37.1
61.7
34.5
17
6
7
8
9
10
1850PRO3
XP8910RR
XP8977RR/HX
BH9018VTTP
X12011GTR
Armor Seed
B-H Genetics
B-H Genetics
B-H Genetics
B-H Genetics
66.0
68.0
65.0
67.0
65.0
119.6
127.7
123.5
120.3
118.6
42.3
49.0
46.3
46.9
45.9
54.5
61.1
57.7
55.4
54.2
34.7
31.7
39.7
34.4
33.1
14
42
1
18
28
11
12
13
14
15
BH8933VT3
X11152VTTP
BH8895VTTP
BH8719RR/HXT
BH9029VTTP
B-H Genetics
B-H Genetics
B-H Genetics
B-H Genetics
B-H Genetics
68.0
65.0
66.0
65.0
64.0
126.5
114.4
121.3
121.9
121.1
49.5
40.7
45.8
49.3
43.4
60.5
58.3
57.8
59.2
58.2
34.7
33.6
33.1
31.3
34.5
13
23
27
45
16
16
17
18
19
20
X12107GT3
CX12117
D56VP24
D57VP51
D58VP30
B-H Genetics
CPS/DynaGro
CPS/DynaGro
CPS/DynaGro
CPS/DynaGro
64.0
65.0
66.0
65.0
64.0
125.3
120.7
117.1
108.1
126.8
44.1
47.8
44.9
34.8
48.0
59.0
58.9
59.0
53.0
55.6
33.4
36.4
32.2
35.7
35.0
24
5
39
8
11
Table 2. Means of forage yield adjusted to 65% moisture and agronomic traits of the State Silage Corn Performance Test at Etter,
Texas in 2012 (continued).
Days to
pollen shed
69.0
67.0
66.0
64.0
66.0
Plant
ht, in.
129.4
124.7
124.0
119.6
130.1
Ear
ht, in
45.4
48.6
53.3
43.6
52.9
Moist.,
%
61.4
57.3
58.7
57.2
61.8
Yield,
tons/a
32.6
39.0
31.5
35.3
33.7
Yield
rank
34
2
44
10
22
Mycogen
Mycogen
Mycogen
Triumph
Triumph
69.0
68.0
66.0
66.0
69.0
127.7
126.1
124.8
123.5
128.6
47.8
52.1
52.4
46.3
59.2
58.5
59.4
58.0
61.1
59.5
37.3
29.3
31.3
36.7
34.9
3
48
46
4
12
TRX11358H
70R50
71M36
73B33
76H50
Triumph
Blue River Hybrids
Blue River Hybrids
Blue River Hybrids
Blue River Hybrids
66.0
62.0
65.0
68.0
66.0
116.4
108.8
114.0
127.0
124.5
50.1
40.8
42.3
46.2
47.1
56.5
54.4
59.7
60.0
60.0
35.6
32.3
32.3
33.4
33.3
9
36
37
25
26
GUAT2/3 x SS Tester
GUAT4 x SS Tester
GUAT5 x SS Tester
GUAT6 x SS Tester
GUAT7 x SS Tester
Texas A&M AgriLife
Texas A&M AgriLife
Texas A&M AgriLife
Texas A&M AgriLife
Texas A&M AgriLife
69.0
69.0
66.0
69.0
69.0
128.3
109.7
124.4
130.4
125.6
57.7
51.2
39.0
55.5
49.2
65.8
71.6
61.3
66.5
63.9
32.7
27.3
36.4
34.3
31.9
31
50
6
19
40
ENO
21
22
23
24
25
Hybrid
GAG8551
GAX6156RR
DKC67-88
DKC66-86
TMF2L871
Company
Golden Acres Genetics
Golden Acres Genetics
Monsanto
Monsanto
Mycogen
26
27
28
29
30
TMF2L825
F2F714
F2F626
1725H
TRX21801H
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
Table 2. Means of forage yield adjusted to 65% moisture and agronomic traits of the State Silage Corn Performance Test at Etter,
Texas in 2012 (continued).
ENO
41
42
43
44
45
Hybrid
GUAT8 x SS Tester
GUAT9 x SS Tester
GUAT12 x SS Tester
GUAT14 x SS Tester
GUAT15 x SS Tester
Company
Texas A&M AgriLife
Texas A&M AgriLife
Texas A&M AgriLife
Texas A&M AgriLife
Texas A&M AgriLife
Days to
pollen
shed
68.0
69.0
69.0
69.0
66.0
46
47
48
49
50
GUAT16 x SS Tester
GUAT17/18 x SS Tester
GUAT19 x SS Tester
GUAT20 x SS Tester
WXU12-18 (bm3)
Texas A&M AgriLife
Texas A&M AgriLife
Texas A&M AgriLife
Texas A&M AgriLife
Texas A&M AgriLife
69.0
69.0
69.0
68.0
64.0
127.3
121.7
120.2
122.2
116.5
50.1
50.5
48.4
47.4
48.0
62.2
68.6
63.9
62.7
53.1
35.7
30.0
34.2
32.7
28.3
66.3
1.3
1.4
121.6
6.7
13.3
46.6
11.6
8.8
59.6
4.4
4.2
33.5
6.7
3.7
Test mean
CV%
LSD 0.05
Plant
ht, in.
127.3
121.7
125.1
122.2
117.3
Ear
ht, in
48.2
47.8
49.0
53.4
45.5
Moist.,
%
64.2
63.8
62.5
62.4
58.9
Yield,
tons/a
31.7
32.4
32.7
33.7
32.7
Yield
rank
43
35
33
21
30
7
47
20
32
49
Table 3. Means of forage yield adjusted to 65% moisture and agronomic traits of the State Silage Corn Performance Test at Halfway,
Texas in 2012.
Days to
Plant
Ear
Moist.,
Yield,
Yield
ENO
Hybrid
Company
pollen shed
ht, in.
ht, in
%
tons/a
rank
1
1262 PRO2
Armor Seed
67.0
100.4
38.2
46.7
20.5
50
2
1415 PRO3
Armor Seed
69.0
99.5
38.2
51.6
23.1
48
3
1330PRO3
Armor Seed
68.0
101.4
40.0
40.9
28.5
20
4
1550 PRO3
Armor Seed
67.0
90.8
35.8
45.5
27.4
32
5
1770 PRO3
Armor Seed
69.0
94.4
37.0
48.7
28.8
17
6
7
8
9
10
1850PRO3
XP8910RR
XP8977RR/HX
BH9018VTTP
BH8933VT3
Armor Seed
B-H Genetics
B-H Genetics
B-H Genetics
B-H Genetics
71.0
70.0
70.0
71.0
72.0
99.9
117.1
104.6
100.7
107.9
42.1
49.5
42.9
47.5
53.4
42.8
43.1
48.4
47.1
42.7
29.2
28.9
30.1
28.0
25.1
13
15
8
27
42
11
12
13
14
15
X11152VTTP
BH8895VTTP
BH8719RR/HXT
BH9029VTTP
BH9023VT3
B-H Genetics
B-H Genetics
B-H Genetics
B-H Genetics
B-H Genetics
68.0
70.0
71.0
68.0
73.0
106.2
99.9
104.3
107.5
114.3
47.6
38.3
50.3
44.0
48.6
49.6
43.2
45.4
48.5
44.7
29.7
30.3
26.4
32.2
28.6
11
7
35
3
19
16
17
18
19
20
X12108GT3
CX12117
D56VP24
D57VP51
D58VP30
B-H Genetics
CPS/DynaGro
CPS/DynaGro
CPS/DynaGro
CPS/DynaGro
70.0
68.0
71.0
69.0
67.0
106.2
100.4
95.8
95.1
98.6
44.6
45.4
41.6
38.1
43.4
43.0
44.7
44.8
43.6
44.4
24.2
26.5
27.8
30.9
27.6
46
34
30
5
31
Table 3. Means of forage yield adjusted to 65% moisture and agronomic traits of the State Silage Corn Performance Test at Halfway, Texas in 2012
(continued).
Days to
pollen
shed
69.0
68.0
71.0
72.0
70.0
Plant
ht, in.
102.8
96.7
108.9
115.0
112.5
Ear
ht, in
45.3
35.4
50.9
51.2
51.8
Moist.,
%
46.4
40.1
48.9
40.3
44.8
Yield,
tons/a
29.2
25.6
25.6
30.6
25.0
Yield
rank
14
39
40
6
44
ENO
21
22
23
24
25
Hybrid
DKC67-88
DKC66-86
TMF2L871
TMF2L825
F2F714
Company
Monsanto
Monsanto
Mycogen
Mycogen
Mycogen
26
27
28
29
30
F2F626
1725H
TRX21801H
TRX11358H
70R50
Mycogen
Triumph
Triumph
Triumph
Blue River Hybrids
71.0
70.0
72.0
71.0
68.0
109.2
107.9
108.0
101.3
99.7
47.8
45.8
48.4
46.7
42.0
45.4
48.3
34.8
44.9
42.3
28.0
29.3
29.7
33.4
25.1
28
12
10
2
43
31
32
33
34
35
76H50
71M36
73B33
Blue River Hybrids
Blue River Hybrids
Blue River Hybrids
GUAT2 x SS Tester
GUAT3 x SS Tester
Texas A&M AgriLife
Texas A&M AgriLife
70.0
69.0
70.0
74.0
72.0
97.6
107.2
107.1
100.4
106.8
42.1
49.6
42.0
45.9
48.3
46.1
49.2
50.3
51.1
49.9
26.4
28.1
28.1
25.5
28.2
36
25
23
41
22
36
37
38
39
40
GUAT4 x SS Tester
GUAT5 x SS Tester
GUAT6 x SS Tester
GUAT7 x SS Tester
GUAT8 x SS Tester
Texas A&M AgriLife
Texas A&M AgriLife
Texas A&M AgriLife
Texas A&M AgriLife
Texas A&M AgriLife
74.0
73.0
73.0
71.0
73.0
103.8
107.6
114.0
102.6
108.5
47.5
49.0
52.5
42.5
49.3
49.8
53.1
54.0
50.1
50.2
29.9
28.2
28.0
28.8
28.7
9
21
29
16
18
Table 3. Means of forage yield adjusted to 65% moisture and agronomic traits of the State Silage Corn Performance Test at Halfway, Texas in 2012
(continued).
41
42
43
44
45
GUAT9 x SS Tester
GUAT11 x SS Tester
GUAT12 x SS Tester
GUAT14 x SS Tester
GUAT15 x SS Tester
Texas A&M AgriLife
Texas A&M AgriLife
Texas A&M AgriLife
Texas A&M AgriLife
Texas A&M AgriLife
Days to
pollen
shed
72.0
72.0
73.0
73.0
73.0
46
47
48
49
50
GUAT16 x SS Tester
GUAT17 x SS Tester
GUAT18 x SS Tester
GUAT19 x SS Tester
GUAT20 x SS Tester
Texas A&M AgriLife
Texas A&M AgriLife
Texas A&M AgriLife
Texas A&M AgriLife
Texas A&M AgriLife
74.0
72.0
73.0
73.0
71.0
103.4
96.3
100.8
107.2
103.3
45.1
41.1
49.0
47.1
48.0
41.2
51.0
40.9
46.6
52.4
31.3
28.1
36.2
26.2
28.0
4
24
1
38
26
70.7
1.3
1.5
103.9
6.9
11.6
45.2
10.5
7.7
46.6
11.7
8.9
27.8
13.2
5.9
25.5
ENO
Hybrid
Test mean
CV%
LSD 0.05
Company
Plant
ht, in.
104.5
103.4
108.8
102.5
102.4
Ear
ht, in
47.8
44.6
44.8
47.6
43.4
Moist.,
%
57.3
49.6
43.9
50.2
45.8
Yield,
tons/a
24.0
24.7
27.3
21.4
26.3
Yield
rank
47
45
33
49
37