Abstract
Twenty cycles of divergent mass selection for seed size have been completed in the corn ( Zea mays L.) cv. Krug yellow dent. A 2‐yr field study was conducted to evaluate direct and indirect responses to seed‐size selection and to observe whether significant changes in yield occur with selection for seed size. A third objective was to investigate the immediate effect of male gametes (pollen) on seed size and to observe whether such effects exhibit heterosis. The study was conducted in the breeding nursery in Lincoln, NE, where the soil type is Kennebec silt loam (Cumulic Hapludolls). Selection was highly effective for both large and small seed size. Selection for small seeds resulted in a decrease in kernel weight of 7.21 g/1000 kernels per cycle while selection for large seeds resulted in an increase in kernel weight of 4.68 g/1000 kernels per cycle. The effect of male gametes on seed size was found to be dependent on the source of the pollen. After 20 cycles, pollen from the large seed‐size population (L) increased seed size by 0.12 g/kernel when used to pollinate plants from the small seed‐size population (S). Pollen from the S population reduced seed size by 0.15 g/kernel when used on plants in the L population. Such large effects were not expected although some effects had been previously demonstrated in dent corn. Even though selection for small seeds resulted in a significant increase in the number of seed harvested per square meter, yield was significantly reduced. Selection for large seeds had no significant effect on yield.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record, shown for indexing and research. Copyright remains with the authors or the publisher. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 8
Claim · model-written summary
Selection for small seeds decreased kernel weight by 7.21 g/1000 kernels per cycle.
- Taxon
- corn
Zea mays subsp. mayst0 - Treatment
- Selection for small seedse0
- Outcome
- kernel weighte0
- Direction
- decreasee0
- Value
- 7.21 g/1000 kernels per cyclee0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Selection for small seeds resulted in a decrease in kernel weight of 7.21 g/1000 kernels per cycle”
t0“corn”
Claim · model-written summary
Selection for large seeds increased kernel weight by 4.68 g/1000 kernels per cycle.
- Taxon
- cornZea mays subsp. mayst0
- Treatment
- selection for large seedse0
- Outcome
- kernel weighte0
- Direction
- increasee0
- Value
- 4.68 g/1000 kernels per cyclee0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“selection for large seeds resulted in an increase in kernel weight of 4.68 g/1000 kernels per cycle”
t0“corn”
Claim · model-written summary
Pollen effects on seed size depended on its source.
- Taxon
- cornZea mays subsp. mayst0
- Organ / stage
- pollene0
- Outcome
- seed sizee0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The effect of male gametes on seed size was found to be dependent on the source of the pollen”
t0“corn”
Claim · model-written summary
Pollen from the large-seed population increased seed size by 0.12 g/kernel on small-seed plants.
- Taxon
- cornZea mays subsp. mayst0
- Treatment
- pollen from the large seed‐size population (L)e0
- Outcome
- seed sizee0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Value
- 0.12 g/kernele0
- Comparator
- plants from the small seed‐size population (S)e0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“pollen from the large seed‐size population (L) increased seed size by 0.12 g/kernel when used to pollinate plants from the small seed‐size population (S)”
t0“corn”
Claim · model-written summary
Pollen from the small-seed population reduced seed size by 0.15 g/kernel on large-seed plants.
- Taxon
- cornZea mays subsp. mayst0
- Treatment
- Pollen from the S populatione0
- Outcome
- seed sizee0
- Direction
- reducede0
- Value
- 0.15 g/kernele0
- Comparator
- plants in the L populatione0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Pollen from the S population reduced seed size by 0.15 g/kernel when used on plants in the L population”
t0“corn”
Claim · model-written summary
Selection for small seeds significantly increased seed number per square meter.
- Taxon
- cornZea mays subsp. mayst0
- Treatment
- selection for small seedse0
- Outcome
- number of seed harvested per square metere0
- Direction
- increasee0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“selection for small seeds resulted in a significant increase in the number of seed harvested per square meter”
t0“corn”
Claim · model-written summary
Selection for small seeds significantly reduced yield.
- Taxon
- cornZea mays subsp. mayst0
- Treatment
- selection for small seedse0
- Outcome
- yielde0
- Direction
- reducede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Even though selection for small seeds resulted in a significant increase in the number of seed harvested per square meter, yield was significantly reduced”
t0“corn”
Claim · model-written summary
Selection for large seeds had no significant effect on yield.
- Taxon
- cornZea mays subsp. mayst0
- Treatment
- Selection for large seedse0
- Outcome
- yielde0
- Direction
- no significant effecte0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Selection for large seeds had no significant effect on yield”
t0“corn”
The same questions in other papers
property · yield · Zea mays (maize)Positive and negative results
4 papers in the same direction as this paper · 9 in the opposite direction · 2 reporting no difference from an alternative
- no effect
- negative
- no effect
12 papers more in this group
See all 16 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.