Evaluation of maize inbred lines and topcross progeny for resistance to pre-harvest aflatoxin contamination

Pre-harvest aflatoxin contamination occurs in maize following kernel colonization by Aspergillus flavus. Aflatoxin contamination resistance is a highly desired trait in maize breeding programs. The identification of novel sources of resistance to pre-harvest aflatoxin contamination is a major focus in germplasm screening efforts. Here, we performed a field evaluation of 64 inbred lines over two years for pre-harvest aflatoxin contamination. Topcrosses were also performed with two testers, B73 and Mo17, to generate 128 F1 hybrids which were also evaluated over two years. Hybrid performance was used to calculate both general combining ability (GCA) of the inbreds, and observed heterosis for aflatoxin resistance. Over both years of the study, aflatoxin concentrations ranged from 80 ± 47 to 17,617 ± 8816 μg kg−1 for inbreds, and from 58 ± 39 to 2771 ± 780 μg kg−1 for hybrids with significant variation between years and lines. The inbred lines CML52, CML69, CML247, GT-603, GEMS-0005, Hi63, Hp301, and M37 W showed