Molecular analysis of mutant () gene in diverse waxy maize inbreds.

Waxy corn is popular beacuse of its high amylopectin due to mutation in or () gene. Here, we characterized the allele among 24 diverse waxy inbreds using gene-based markers. A total of 29 alleles with average of 1.81 alleles/locus were observed. Major allele frequency varied from 0.42 to 1.00, with mean of 0.74. The polymorphism information content ranged from 0.00 to 0.56 (average 0.24). Three simple sequence repeat markers, viz., and were more polymorphic in the study. The mean heterozygosity was 0.04, which indicated attainment of higher levels of homozygosity. Dissimilarity coefficient varied from 0.00 to 0.90 with average of 0.51. Seventeen diverse haplotypes of allele were observed that was consistent with the pedigree. Cluster analyses grouped 24 genotypes into two main clusters each having sub-clusters. The information generated here possesses great potential for improvement of high amylopectin in maize through marker-assisted selection. This is the first report of molecular dissection of gene among the novel waxy inbreds developed in India.