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Abstract
Genetic mapping and quantitative trait locus/loci (QTL) mapping were used to study the genetic factors associated with perenniality in a cross between the annual maize inbred B73 (Zea mays ssp. mays) and a perennial teosinte relative, Zea diploperennis. The perennial-related traits analyzed were flowering time, tiller number, regrowth after autumn cutback, stay-green, and overwintering. An F2 population of 482 individuals was phenotyped and a subset of 93 F2 individuals was genotyped using 858 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers generated with genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS). A genetic map was developed that totaled 1,437.5 cM in length with an average of 85.8 SNPs per chromosome. Associations between phenotypes and genotypes were analyzed with composite interval mapping. One QTL was detected, which was for the stay-green phenotype on chromosome 5 that was responsible for 27.0% of the phenotypic variation.