RELACIONES FENOTIPÍCAS Y GENÉTICAS ENTRE RAZAS TARDÍAS DE MAÍZ (ZEA MAYSSSP. MAYS NATIVAS DE LA PROVINCIA DE MISIONES (ARGENTINA).

Background and aims: Although the races of maize native to the Northeast of Argentina (Misiones) have been described and a work on phenetic relations has been published, nevertheless little is known about genetic relationships, this being the main objective of this work. M&M: A group of 6 races of maize and the "F," offspring of crosses derived from a diallel scheme have been evaluated on the basis of 21 morphological vegetative, reproductive and phenological quantitative traits using ANOVA and multivariate statistical methods (discriminant canonic analysis and cluster analysis). Results: The ANOVA showed highly significant differences among parental races and progeny for almost all the variables. The first two canonical variables (CV) explain almost 67% of overall variation. The most important discriminating characters associated with the first CV correspond to dimensions of ears and grains, while the traits contributing to the second CV are related mainly to vegetative and reproductive morphology. Racial groups defined by cluster analysis were described. Conclusions: Cluster analysis allowed distinguishing related racial groups. The genetic relationships observed from diallel crosses are different according to the parameter considered for regrouping. The results obtained are important from the taxonomic and evolutionary point of view and facilitate the choice of material to be used in breeding programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]