Inheritance of antibiosis to the maize stalk borer, Busseola fusca (Fuller) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and the combining ability for yield in resistant maize genotypes

Abstract

A diallel set of hybrids involving eleven maize inbred lines was used to determine the genetic basis of resistance to Busseola fusca. Larval mass gain over a period of three weeks after the artificial infestation of plants was closely correlated with the levels of damage caused by leaf feeding. Estimates of the combining ability indicated that general combining ability effects were the most important source of genetic variance for resistance. Antibiosis was largely additive and 35% heritable. Moderate levels of resistance were observed in some locally developed inbred lines. Significant differences in the combining ability for yield in crosses between local elite inbreds and the resistant Mississippi inbreds Mp706 and Mp707 seemed to be related to variation in prolificacy.