Foliar diseases are important biotic constraints limiting maize production globally. Northern corn leaf blight (NCLB) incited by Exserohilum turcicum, gray leaf spot (GLS) incited by Cercospora zeae-maydis and maize streak incited by maize streak virus (MSV), are among the most destructive. Most of the maize foliar diseases are managed by means of quantitative partial resistance. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) conditioning partial-resistance to these pathogens have been identified. Validation of candidate QTL conferring partial resistance would present marker-assisted selection as a potentially viable strategy to improve host resistance. We were interested in determining the usefulness of molecular markers linked to consensus QTL controlling partial-resistance systems for improving the overall resistance level. We examined QTL for NCLB in chromosomal bins 3.06, 5.04 and 8.06; GLS QTL in bins 2.09 and 4.08; and a consensus MSV QTL in bin 1.04 as potential targets for selection in improving host resistance. We also examined the effectiveness of different selection strategies for the purpose of pyramiding resistance loci to these diseases. Field evaluations and subsequent selections were conducted independently for each disease in a population of 410 F2:3 lines derived from hybridization between inbred line CML202 with known resistance to NCLB and MSV, and VP31 a breeding line with known resistance to GLS. Maize streak evaluations were conducted in Zimbabwe, GLS tests were performed in Ohio, and NCLB evaluations were conducted in Uganda and Ohio. Genetic gains were calculated for simultaneous improvement of partial resistance following phenotype-based, marker-based, combined phenotype- and marker-based selection (MAS index), and random selection.
Narrow-sense heritability estimates were 0.22, 0.25 and 0.39 for MSV, NCLB and GLS, respectively. Analysis of gene action using orthogonal contrasts showed mostly dominant gene action for NCLB, GLS and MSV. For NCLB, resistance due to presence of alleles from QTL in bins 3.06 and 5.04 was detected across two seasons. The chromosomal region in bin 4.08 for GLS resistance was significant (0.0001 ≤ P ≤ 0.0395) across seasons using late-season disease assessments. The major locus conferring resistance to MSV on chromosome 1 was significant (P<0.05) for resistance across seasons and explained 23% of phenotypic variations in the F2:4 generation. Phenotypic values associated with flanking markers at each locus based on interval analysis indicated that QTL in bin 4.08 for GLS, bin 1.04 for MSV, and bins 3.06 and 5.04 for NCLB significantly reduced disease severity. Our results validated the position and effect of four out of six QTL controlling partial resistance to these pathogens. This was consistent with the presence of homozygous alleles from the resistant parent. These results point out the need for validation of QTL in new populations and the potential of using marker-assisted selection for pyramiding resistance to several pathogens using target QTL.