Abstract

Purple maize has high content of beneficial anthocyanin. Kernel colours and their intensity are associated with the concentration of phytochemicals and minerals, which could benefit human health. Breeding for purple- kernelled maize requires an understanding of its mode of inheritance. This study was conducted to investigate the mode of inheritance of purple pericarp colour in maize. A cross and its reciprocal was carried out between two maize lines: UIp01 with purple kernels and TZi3 which has white kernels. Ears bearing kernels of the six basic generations (P1, P2, F1, F2, BC1P1, and BC1P2) and F3 derived from UIp01 × TZi3 (F1) and TZi3 × UIp01 (RF1) were sorted by colour, and grouped into purple and non-purple. Data were summarized for the distribution of kernel colour. Chi-square analysis with 95% confidence interval was carried out on the segregation ratio. The F1 and RF1 differed in pericarp colour. The F1 had the purple maternal phenotype for pericarp colour, while the RF1 had kernels with yellow pericarp. Irrespective of the direction of the cross, the F2 segregated in the ratio 9:7 purple to non-purple, for complementary gene action. Segregation ratio of purple-kernelled to non-purple-kernelled ears in the F3 had a good fit with ratio 1:3. Maternal effect was present in the inheritance of purple kernel colour in maize, with a complementary gene action in which the purple kernel colour was not completely dominant over the transparent phenotype, but the expression of purple kernel colour determined by the genotype of the parents.