Genetic dissection of crown root traits and their relationships with aboveground agronomic traits in maize

The crown root system is the most important root component in maize at both the vegetative and reproductive stages. However, the genetic basis of maize crown root traits(CRT) is still unclear, and the relationship between CRT and aboveground agronomic traits in maize is poorly understood. In this study, an association panel including 531 elite maize inbred lines was planted to phenotype the CRT and aboveground agronomic traits in different field environments. We found that root traits were significantly and positively correlated with most aboveground agronomic traits, including flowering time, plant architecture and grain yield. Using a genome-wide association study(GWAS)coupled with resequencing, a total of 115 associated loci and 22 high-confidence candidate genes were identified for CRT. Approximately one-third of the genetic variation in crown root was co-located with 46 QTLs derived from flowering and plant architecture. Furthermore, 103 (89.6%) of 115 crown root loci were located within known domestication-and/or improvement-selective sweeps, suggesting that crown roots might experience indirect selection in maize during domestication and improvement. Furthermore, the expression of Zm00001d036901, a high-confidence candidate gene, may contribute to the phenotypic variation in maize crown roots, and Zm00001d036901 was selected during the domestication and improvement of maize. This study promotes our understanding of the genetic basis of root architecture and provides resources for genomics-enabled improvements in maize root architecture.

Genetic Diversity,Population Structure,and Genome-Wide Association Study of Seven Agronomic Traits in 273 Diverse Upload Cotton Accessions

Upland cotton(Gossypium hirsutum)is the most important plant producing natural fibers for the textile industry.In this study,we first investigated the phenotypic variation of seven agronomic traits of 273 diverse cotton accessions in the years 2017 and 2018,which were from 18 geographical regions.We found large variations among the traits in different geographical regions and only half of the traits in either years 2017 or 2018 followed a normal distribution.We then genotyped the collection with 81,612 high quality SNPs.Phylogenetic tree and population structure revealed a diverse genetic structure of the core collection,and geographical diversification was an important factor,but account for part of the variances of genetic diversification.We then performed genome-wide association study for the seven traits in the years 2017 and 2018,and the average values of each trait in the two years,respectively.We identified a total of 19 significant marker-trait associations and found that Pollen Ole e 1 allergen/extension could be the candidate gene associated with the fall-off cotton bolls from the last three branches.In addition,large variations were observed for the heritability of traits in the years 2017 and 2018.These results provide new potential candidate genes for further functional validation,which could be useful for genetic improvement and breeding of new cotton cultivars with better agronomic performances.

Evolutionary Fixed Potential Agronomic Traits in Polysomic Polyploidy Plants with Special Reference to Potato

It is commonly known that polyploidization has become one of major forces for a speciation and evolution, especially with evolutionary fixed potential agronomic traits in plants. Although several studies demonstrate that allopolyploid plants were successful in developing novel crops, autopolyploid ones are also more substantial and worth exploring. Obviously, autopolyploid development via sexual or asexual pathways can lead to advantages in biomass, changing process of development, and lots of benefits on coping with climate changes do not comprehend as a whole. This review shed light on 1) gaining gigantic effect and increasing phytochemical content;2) enhancing biotic and abiotic tolerance to adapt to climate change;3) changing in process of development;4) adapting ecology. Based on these benefits, this review provides breeders with several choices when they need in the breeding strategies. Also further review on prospects of polyploidy potato in food security is concerned.

QTL Analysis of Major Agronomic Traits in Soybean

Soybean is a main crop, and most agronomic traits of soybean are quantitative; therefore, there is vely important studying and applying value to locating these traits. A F2：10 RIL population containing 154 lines, derived from the cross between Charleston as female and Dongnong 594 as male parent, were used in this experiment. A genetic linkage map was constructed with 164 SSR primers, which were screened with the two parents and amplified on the 154 lines. 12 agronomic traits different between the two parents were investigated, and QTLs of all the traits were analyzed using the software Windows QTL Cartographer V2.0. The agronomic traits included quality traits： protein content, oil content, and content of protein and oil; yield traits： pods per plant, seed weight per plant, and 100 seeds weight; and other agronomic traits： plant height, days to maturity, branches, nod number in main stem, average leaf length, and average leaf width. The results showed that 68 QTLs in total were found for the 12 agronomic traits. The number of QTLs per trait varied from 3 for the average leaf width to 11 for 100 seeds weight and plant height, and was 5.8 on average. Good accordance was seen in many QTLs between the results of this study and the results obtained by other similar studies; therefore, these QTLs may be valuable for molecular marker assistant selection in soybean. In this study, 68 major QTLs of 12 important traits of soybean were analyzed.

Detection of QTLs for Important Agronomic Traits and Analysis of Their Stabilities Using SSSLs in Rice

Single segment substitution lines （SSSLs） each with a single chromosome segment from a donor under the same genetic background as the recipient were developed in rice by advanced backcrossing and molecular marker-assisted selection. Using the SSSLs, the QTLs for the important agronomic traits in rice would be detected under different environmental conditions. Detection of the QTLs controlling 22 important traits in rice was done with 32 SSSLs by the randomized block design in 2-4 cropping seasons. 59 QTLs were detected and distributed on chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, and 11, of which 18 QTLs were detected more than twice. Only 30.5% of the QTLs were detected repeatedly in different cropping seasons. Most of the QTLs of important agronomic traits were of little additive effects and instability. The QTLs controlling the traits, such as grain weight, grain length, ratio of grain length to width, and heading date were relatively stable. The stable QTLs usually had larger additive effects and were less affected by environment. The QTLs for the important agronomic traits were detected using the SSSLs in rice with high resolution under different environmental conditions. The instability of the QTLs may be the basis of the variation of rice plants during growth and development. It would be the genetic basis for improving yield and quality in rice cultivars by farming methods.

Identification of QTLs Conferring Agronomic and Quality Traits in Hexaploid Wheat

The availability of elite germplasm resources with high yield and quality potentials is very important for development of cultivars in wheat. Thus, seeking such resources has been the continuous effort of breeder community. In this study, genetic analysis of a novel resource, Triticum spelta line CSCR6, from Australia was made by use of a recombination inbred line （RIL） population of 82 individuals from the cross between CSCR6 and another Australian hexaploid wheat cultivar, Lang. Data of a multiple environmental test was employed to genetically dissect quantitative trait loci （QTL） for agronomic traits such as plant height （PH）, spike length （SL）, spikelet per spike （SPI）, grain number per spike （GNS） and thousand grains weight （TGW） and for quality traits including grain protein content （GPC）, gluten content （GC）, grain hardness （GH）, falling number （FN） and sedimentation value （SV）. A 24 QTLs with additive effects were detected for all the investigated traits, and were located on chromosomes 1B, 1D, 2B, 3A, 3B, 3D, 4B, 5A, 5B, 7A, and 7B, respectively. Some QTLs located on 2B and 4B showed higher explanation of phenotypic variances and were not obviously interacted with environment. A QTL in the marker interval of wPT-5334-wPT-4918 （near the locus barc 0199） on 4B gave the highest contribution ratio of 30.76% on PH, while Qgpc-4B and Qgc-4B gave 13.07 and 14.70% contribution ratio on GPC and GC, respectively. Qph-2B, Qgns-2B, and Qgpc-2B showed 13.36, 10.00, and 10.79% contribution ratio on PH, GNS and GPC, respectively. Also, a QTL on 5A, Qsl- 5A, could explain 25.12% of phenotypic variance on SL. For most of agronomic and quality traits, CSCR6 alleles produced increase effects. The fact that a number of loci affecting the investigated traits were detected in T. spelta line CSCR6 revealed that it could offer a new opportunity for the manipulation of these traits in wheat breeding programs.

Effects of Non-flooded Cultivation with Straw Mulching on Rice Agronomic Traits and Water Use Efficiency

A field experiment was conducted to study water use efficiency and agronomic traits in rice cultivated in flooded soil and non-flooded soils with and without straw mulching. The total amount of water used by rice under flooded cultivation （FC） was 2.42 and 3.31 times as much as that by rice under the non-flooded cultivation with and without straw mulching, respectively. The average water seepage was 13 560 m^3/ha under the flooded cultivation, 4 750 m^3/ha under the non-flooded cultivation without straw mulching （ZM） and 4 680 m^3/ha under non-flooded cultivation with straw mulching （SM）. The evapotranspiration in the SM treatment was only 38.2% and 63.6% of the FC treatment and ZM treatment, respectively. Compared with the ZM treatment, straw mulching significantly increased leaf area per plant, main root length, gross root length and root dry weight per plant of rice. The highest grain yield under the SM treatment （6 747 kg/ha） was close to the rice cultivated in flooded soil （6 811.5 kg / ha）. However, the yield under the ZM treatment （4 716 kg/ha） was much lower than that under the FS treatment and SM treatment. The order of water use efficiency and irrigation water use efficiency were both as follows： SM〉 ZM〉 FC.

Should phenological information be applied to predict agronomic traits across growth stages of winter wheat?

Most existing agronomic trait models of winter wheat vary across growing seasons, and it is an open question whether a unified statistical model can be developed to predict agronomic traits using a vegetation index(VI) across multiple growing seasons. In this study, we constructed a hierarchical linear model(HLM) to automatically adapt the relationship between VIs and agronomic traits across growing seasons and tested the model’s performance by sensitivity analysis. Results demonstrated that(1) optical VIs give poor performance in predicting AGB and PNC across all growth stages, whereas VIs perform well for LAI, LGB, LNC, and SPAD.(2) The sensitivity indices of the phenological information in the AGB and PNC prediction models were 0.81–0.86 and 0.66–0.73, whereas LAI, LGB, LNC, and SPAD prediction models produced sensitivity indexes of 0.01–0.02, 0.01–0.02, 0.01–0.02, and 0.02–0.08, respectively.(3) The AGB and PNC prediction models considering ZS were more accurate than the prediction models based on VI. Whether or not phenological information is used, there was no difference in model accuracy for LGB,LNC, SPAD, and LAI. This study may provide a guideline for deciding whether phenological correction is required for estimation of agronomic traits across multiple growing seasons.

Genotype × Environment Interactions for Agronomic Traits of Rice Revealed by Association Mapping

Agronomic traits are important determinants to rice yield, which are controlled by complex genetic factors as well as genotype by environment （G × E） interaction effects. The G × E effects for agronomic traits of rice have been dissected with various approaches, but not with the current available approach, the association studies. In this study, a total of 32 655 single nucleotide polymorphisms were used to carry out associations with 14 agronomic traits among 20 rice accessions in two environments. The G × E interaction effects for all the agronomic traits were at highly significant levels （P〈0.01）, accounting for 3.4%-22.3% of the total sum of squares except for the length of brown rice. Twenty three putative quantitative trait loci （QTLs）, including five previously known and several new promising associations, were identified for 10 of 14 traits. Analysis of the relationships between the traits for which QTLs and the genotype effects could be identified suggested that the higher the genotypic effect, the higher the possibility to identify QTLs for the given trait. The new QTLs detected in this study will facilitate dissection of the complex agronomic traits and may give insight into the G × E effects with association mapping.

Effect of Preplant Fertilizer on Agronomic and Physiological Traits of Soybean Cultivars from Different Breeding Programs

Understanding the changes in agronomic and physiological traits associated with yield genetic gain is important for soybean production and future breeding strategy. The objective of this study was to compare the older and modern cultivars to learn whether the yield improvements depend on preplant fertilizer or the plant productivity improvement, A set of older cultivars, with their modern counterparts derived from breeding programs in Liaoning and Ohio were evaluated for their agronomic and physiological traits under different fertilizer levels from 2004 to 2006. There was no improvement of response to N and P preplant fertilizer for genotypes. After more than 70 yr breeding, soybean breeders made some improvements in agronomic and physiological traits that contribute to yield increase. When compared to older cultivar, modern Liaoning and Ohio cultivars were shorter and more resistance to lodging, had greater leaf density, higher harvest index, more leaf area per plant, and greater photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate and stomatal conductance at the beginning of seed development. Ohio cultivars were more resistant to lodging as if selected for easy harvest by combine, even under high N and P preplant fertilizer level, which resulted in Ohio cultivars with higher and stable yield productivity.

QTL consistency for agronomic traits across three generations and potential applications in popcorn

Favorable agronomic traits are important to improve productivity of popcorn. In this study, a recombinant inbred line（RIL） population consisting of 258 lines was evaluated to identify quantitative trait loci（QTLs） for nine agronomic traits（plant height, ear height, top height（plant height subtracted ear height）, top height/plant height, number of leaves above the top ear, leaf area, stalk diameter, number of tassel branches and the length of tassel） under three environments. Meta-analysis was conducted then to integrate QTLs identified across three generations（RIL, F2：3 and BC2F2） developed from the same crosses. In total, 179 QTLs and 36 meta-QTLs（m QTL） were identified. The percentage of phenotypic variation（R2） explained by any single QTL varied from 3.86 to 28.4%, and 24 QTLs with contributions over 15%. Nine common QTLs located in the same or similar chromosome regions were detected across three generations. Five meta-QTLs were identified including QTLs in three independent studies. Seven important m QTLs were composed of 11–26 QTLs for 4–7 traits, respectively. Only 11 m QTLs were commonly identified in the same or similar chromosome regions across agronomic traits, popping characteristics（popping fold, popping volume and popping rate） and grain yield components（ear weight per plant, grain weight per plant, 100-grain weight, ear length, kernel number per row, ear diameter, row number per ear and kernel ratio） by meta-QTL analysis. In conclusion, we identified a list of QTLs, some of which with much higher contributions to agronomic traits should be valuable for further study in improving both popping characteristics and grain yield components in popcorn.

Yield-related agronomic traits evaluation for hybrid wheat and relations of ethylene and polyamines biosynthesis to filling at the mid-grain filling stage

Because of the yield increase of 3.5-15%compared to conventional wheat,hybrid wheat is considered to be one of the main ways to greatly improve the wheat yield in the future.In this study,we performed a principal component analysis(PCA)on two-line hybrids wheat and their parents using the grain weight(GW),the length of spike(LS),the kernel number of spike(KSN),and spike number(SPN)as variables.The results showed that the variables could be classifed into three main factors,the weight factor(factor 1),the quantity factor 1(factor 2)and the quantity factor 2(factor 3),which accounted for 37.1,22.6 and 18.5%,respectively of the total variance in different agronomic variables,suggesting that the GW is an important indicator for evaluating hybrid combinations,and the grain weight of restorer line(RGW)could be used as a reference for parents selection.The hybrid combination with a higher score in factor 1 direction and larger mid-parent heterosis(MPH)of the GW and its parents were used to carry out the analysis of grain fling,1-aminocylopropane-1-carboxylicacid(ACC)and polyamine synthesis related genes.The results suggested that the GW of superior grain was significantly higher than that of inferior grains in BS1453xJS1(H)and its parents.Both grain types showed a weight of H between BS 1453(M)and JS1(R),and a larger MPH,which may be caused by their differences in the active fling stage and the grain fling rate.The ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase(AGPase),granule bound starch synthase I(GBSS/),starch synthaseⅡ(SSS),and starch branching enzyme-Ⅰ(SBE-1)expression levels of H were intermediated between M and R,which might be closely related to MPH formation of the GW.Compared with R and H,the GW of M at maturity was the lowest.The expression levels of spermidine synthase 2(Spd2),ornithine decarboxylase(ODC)and S adenosylmethionine decarboxylase(SAMDC)had significantly positive correlations with the grain flig rate(1=0.77,0.51,0.59"),suggesting their major roles in the grain flling and heterosis formation.These provide a theoretical basis for improving the GW of photo-thermo-sensitive male sterile lines(PTSMSL)by changing the endogenous polyamine synthesis in commercial applications.

QTL Mapping for Important Agronomic Traits in Synthetic Hexaploid Wheat Derived from Aegiliops tauschii ssp. tauschii

Aegiliops tauschii is classified into two subspecies： Ae. tauschii ssp. tauschii and Ae. tauschii ssp. strangulata. Novel genetic variations exist in Ae. tauschii ssp. tauschii that can be utilized in wheat improvement. We synthesized a hexaploid wheat genotype（SHW-L1） by crossing an Ae. tauschii ssp. tauschii accession（AS60） with a tetraploid wheat genotype（AS2255）. A population consisting of 171 F8 recombinant inbred lines was developed from SHW-L1 and Chuanmai 32 to identify QTLs associated with agronomic traits. A new genetic map with high density was constructed and used to detect the QTLs for heading date, kernel width, spike length, spikelet number, and thousand kernel weight. A total of 30 putative QTLs were identified for five investigated traits. Thirteen QTLs were located on D genomes of SHW-L1, six of them showed positive effect on agronomic traits. Chromosome region flanked by wPt-6133–wPt-8134 on 2D carried five environment-independent QTLs. Each QTL accounted for more than 10% phenotypic variance. These QTLs were highly consistent across environments and should be used in wheat breeding.

Inheritance of the Pale—Green Leaf Marker and Sterility Trait in Photo—Thermo Sensitive Genic Male Sterile Rice

P/TGMS (photo-thermo sensitive genie male sterility) lines with pale-green leaf color have been developed in japonica rice. The marker trait is used as an assistant selection in the production of the two-lines system hybrid rice for the improvement of F, seed purity. A joint inheritance study of both leaf color and male sterility is presented for P/TGMS line with pale-green leaf color. The segregation ratios for leaf color in the F2 populations of the three crosses showed 13 : 3 and 15 : 1 at early and late sowing stages (April 26 and June 23) respectively, implying that the leaf color is controlled by two genes with fertility gene as dominant. Sterility level is higher in the early sowing stage than that in the late sowing. The inducement of male sterility is closely related to longer day-length and higher temperature at the developmental stages of young panicle. The genes to govern the leaf color and male fertility are inherited independently.

Gene Mapping of Brachytic Stem and Its Effect on Main Agronomic Traits in Soybean

Brachytic stem is a major trait in plant type .of soybean and its yield potential may be higher under high population when compared with normal stem. In the present investigation, 152 recombinant inbred line （RIL） families derived from the cross of Bogao （normal stem） and Nannong 94-156 （brachytic stem） were used to map genes and QTLs of three plant type traits and to identify the effects of brachytic stem on agronomic traits such as yield. The primary results indicated that brachytic stem （sb） and determinate growth habit （drl） were mapped on linkage groups B2 and L, three major QTLs related to plant height were detected and mapped on linkage group L near drl, another minor QTL was mapped near sb on linkage group B2-1. Lines with brachytic stem had shorter plant height, lower biomass, yield, harvest index and pods per plant, and essentially no differences in days to maturity and 100-seed weight when compared with normal stem lines. It was obvious that the effect of brachytic stem on yield was due to the decreased height, biomass and harvest index.

Agronomic Traits of Transgenic Soybean Overexpressing TaDREB3

Dongnong50 was overexpressing TaDREB3, a stress-tolerance gene, and transgenic progenies with TaDREB3 showing stable heredity characters were obtained in this study. The seeds of T4 generation were sowed on saline land of which salt concentration was 0.19% and pH was 8.43, and agronomic traits including growth period, plant height, numbers of main nodes, branching numbers, pods per plant, numbers of seeds per plant, and weight of 100-seed were collected and comparing to control plants Dongnong50 were made. The impacts of TaDREB3 gene on agronomic traits of soybeans under high concentration of salt were discussed. The results showed that the growth period was not altered in transgenic line with TaDREB3 under high concentration of saline and alkali, the extremely significant or significant increase in the numbers of main nodes, pods per plant and in branching numbers and other agronomic traits in transgenic lines in comparing with non-transgenic lines was an indicator of their resistance to saline-alkali stress

Low-Temperature Response to Major Agronomic Traits by Using Recombinant Inbred Line(RIL) Populations Derived from Towada × Kunmingxiaobaigu

Development of the recombinant inbred line populations （RILs） is important basis to detect QTLs for cold tolerance at booting stage in rice. A set of 230 RILs derived from the cross of Towada and Kunmingxiaobaigu were used for evaluation of low-temperature response on major agronomic traits of plant height （PH）, panicle length （PL）, panicle exsertion （PE）, spikelet fertility （SF）, specific spikelet fertility （SSF）, and spikelets per panicle （SPP） under natural low-temperature growing environments in Yunnan Province, China. The results showed PH, PE, and SPP were mainly attributed by genotypes. PL was mainly influenced interactively by the genotypes × environments. SF and SSF were mainly controlled by the environments. Under the five different growth environments, F values of the six agronomic traits mentioned above ranged from 4.019 to 97.284. Significant difference was revealed between the lines. Under every environment, it indicated significantly positive correlation between SF and SSF, with correlation coefficients ranged from 0.826 to 0.885. It indicated significantly positive correlation between PH, PL, and PE. Under five different growing environments, variation coefficients of the six characters ordered in SSF （66.3%） 〉 PE （57.4%） 〉 SP （37.2%） 〉 SPP （16.2%） 〉 PH （9.6%） 〉 PL （6.4%）. SSF, PE and SF were most sensitive to low temperature stress at booting stage, while SPP, PH and PL being least. The RILs of Towada/ Kunmingxiaobaigu can be used as a genetic population to investigate cold tolerance at booting stage. SSF, PE and SF are most sensitive to cold tolerance at booting stage in rice. So far the the variation of PH, PL, and SPP related to cold tolerance are not clear under natural low-temperature environment. More tested environments and years are required to identify and evaluate cold tolerance at booting stage in rice.

Quantitative trait loci associated to agronomic traits and yield components in a Sorghum bicolor L.Moench RIL population cultivated under pre-flowering drought and well-watered conditions

The present study aims to identify QTL influencing agronomic traits and yield components under well-watered and pre-flowering drought stress conditions. One hundred F5 recombinant inbred lines (RIL) and the parental lines of a cross between a drought-tolerant and a susceptible line in a field experiment were carried out at Nong Lam University of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Drought stress was induced by withholding irrigation water from the plants at four weeks after sowing to flowering. Leaf area of the third leaf, stem diameter, plant height, days to heading, anthesis and maturity, panicle length, number of seeds per plant, hundred kernel weight and grain yield were measured. Plants were genotyped with 117 Diversity Arrays Technology (DArT) and eight expressed sequence tag (EST)-derived simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Composite interval mapping was carried out on the traits and significant QTL were claimed at a logarithm of the odds (LOD) score >2.5. A total of 50 QTL were detected on nine chromosomes or 13 linkage groups, respectively. Six promising QTL regions with seven QTL for yield and agronomic traits especially related to pre-flowering drought tolerance were identified on chromosomes SBI-01, SBI-03, SBI-04, SBI-05 and SBI-07.

Mining favorable alleles for five agronomic traits from the elite rapeseed cultivar Zhongshuang 11 by QTL mapping and integration

Zhongshuang 11(ZS11) is an elite inbred rapeseed(Brassica napus L.) cultivar widely planted in the Yangtze River basin for its favorable characteristics including high seed oil content(SOC), low seed glucosinolate content(SGC), long siliques, and stable yield. To transfer the ideal traits from ZS11 into 195-14 A, a Polima(pol)-type cytoplasmic male sterile line with high general combining ability, a doubled haploid population derived from the cross of ZS11 and 195-14 A was developed. Based on this population,a high-density genetic linkage map covering 2553 c M with an average marker interval of 0.81 c M, was constructed using the Brassica 60 K SNP array and simple sequence repeats. In seven environments, 64,29, 35, 37, and 33 QTL were identified for silique length, seeds per silique, seed density per silique,SOC, and SGC, respectively. Most favorable alleles were from ZS11. Seventy-one consensus QTL were identified by a QTL meta-analysis, eight of which(cqSL–A9–2, cqSL–C7, cqSGC–C2, cqSOC–A5–2, cqSOC–A5–3, cqSPS–A6–2, cqSPS–A7–2, and cqSDPS–A9–2) were assigned as major QTL. Comparative genomics and expression analysis predicted 72 candidate genes underlying the 21 consensus QTL for the five traits.These findings suggest the genetic basis of the superior performance of ZS11 and suggest favorable alleles for development of cultivars with improved yield and quality. These results will assist in cloning these promising alleles in the future.

Cob color, an indicator of grain dehydration and agronomic traits in maize hybrids

Screening for agronomic traits associated with grain moisture is important for mechanical grainharvesting of maize. Cob color as a visual indicator has received limited attention, though it has been subjected to artificial selection, and may have some association with threshability. To investigate the relationships between cob color and grain moisture and other agronomic traits, field experiments were conducted during 2016–2017 using 23 commercial hybrids with red or white cobs. Kernels of red-cob hybrids dehydrated faster, showing lower moisture content at harvest than white-cob hybrids. A cob color index(CCI) was established as a quantitative measure of cob color in the hybrid panel. Ranging from0(whitest) to 17.98(reddest), CCI correlated well with grain dehydration and other agronomic traits associated with growth ontogeny, plant morphology, and plant N content. Strong selection of red cob for recently released hybrids suitable for mechanical grain-harvesting indirectly validated the observed link between cob color and grain dehydration. We propose that cob color and CCI could be used in future selection of maize cultivars bred for mechanical grain-harvesting.