Abstract
Plant height (PH) is an important agronomic trait closely related to yield and lodging resistance. In this study, bulked segregant analysis coupled with next-generation sequencing (BSA-seq) approach was employed to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for PH in a large F(2) population generated from a cross between the tall maize (Zea mays L.) inbred line PH6WC and the short maize inbred line KA3321. Extreme high- and low-PH bulks were constructed by selecting 62 individuals each from the tails of the phenotypic distribution in the 617-member F(2) population. BSA-seq revealed four PH QTLs, two of which were validated in a random F(2) population. qPH(1.01), a novel QTL on chromosome 1, showed dominance effect for reducing both PH and ear height (EH). The KA3321 allele of qPH(1.01) reduced PH by 8-12 cm and EH by 4-6 cm. Using recombinant-derived progeny testing strategy, qPH(1.01) was fine-mapped to an interval of approximately 420 kb referring to B73 genome. Transcriptome data showed that qPH(1.01) might influence PH and EH by regulating expression of hormone-related genes. The dominant QTL discovered in this study may facilitate the breeding of dwarf and high-density maize varieties.