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Maize breeding for smaller tassels threatens yield under a warming climate

Author

Listed:
  • Yingjun Zhang

    (China Agricultural University)

  • Xin Dong

    (Chongqing Academy of Agricultural Sciences)

  • Hongyu Wang

    (China Agricultural University)

  • Yihsuan Lin

    (China Agricultural University)

  • Lian Jin

    (Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences)

  • Xuanlong Lv

    (China Agricultural University)

  • Qian Yao

    (China Agricultural University)

  • Baole Li

    (China Agricultural University)

  • Jia Gao

    (China Agricultural University)

  • Pu Wang

    (China Agricultural University)

  • Baobao Wang

    (Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences)

  • Shoubing Huang

    (China Agricultural University)

Abstract

Breeding programmes have increased the yields of major crops, including maize (Zea mays L.), but the suitability of optimized traits to future climates remains unclear. Here, by comparing the responses of 323 elite maize inbred lines from different breeding eras under natural field conditions, we show that while newer lines exhibit higher grain yield than the early released lines under standard growth, the bred trait of reduced tassel size increases the susceptibility of newly released lines to high temperature during flowering. We identified a potential threshold for spikelets per tassel (~700), over which maize can produce a stably high seed set ratio under warm conditions, and show that small-tassel (

Suggested Citation

  • Yingjun Zhang & Xin Dong & Hongyu Wang & Yihsuan Lin & Lian Jin & Xuanlong Lv & Qian Yao & Baole Li & Jia Gao & Pu Wang & Baobao Wang & Shoubing Huang, 2024. "Maize breeding for smaller tassels threatens yield under a warming climate," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 14(12), pages 1306-1313, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcli:v:14:y:2024:i:12:d:10.1038_s41558-024-02161-5
    DOI: 10.1038/s41558-024-02161-5
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