Foi avaliada a heterose e seus componentes através de cruzamentos dialélicos em milho doce utilizando 38 tratamentos: oito parentais, 28 híbridos e duas testemunhas. O delineamento experimental foi o de blocos casualizados com três repetições e a análise dialélica seguiu a metodologia de Gardner and Eberhart (1966). Foi avaliado o florescimento masculino e feminino, altura de plantas e espigas, índice de espigas (número de espigas/número de plantas), ºBrix, peso de espigas total, peso de espigas padrão, rendimento industrial e teor de açúcar total. Houve variabilidade genética entre os genótipos, com diferença significativa para vários caracteres, exceto índice de espigas, rendimento industrial e ºBrix. Há heterose para grande parte dos caracteres avaliados. A heterose média dos híbridos com relação aos genitores foi positiva para a maioria dos caracteres. Houve contribuição de efeito aditivo e de dominância, sendo a maior contribuição dos genes de dominância para florescimento, altura de plantas e espigas e peso de espigas padrão.

Heterosis and its components were evaluated in a diallel crossing system of sweet corn. In the 38 treatments, eigth parents, 28 hybrids and two controls were used, arranged in a randomized block design with three replications.The diallel analysis followed the methodology of Gardner and Eberhart (1966). The following traits were evaluated: male and female flowering, plant and ear height, ear index (number of ears/number of plants), ºBrix, total ear weight, standard ear weight, industrial yield and total sugar content. There was genetic variability among genotypes, with significant differences except for the traits ear index, industrial yield and ºBrix.Heterosis was found for most traits. The mean heterosis of hybrids compared with the parents was positive for most traits. There was a contribution of additive and dominance effects.The contribution of dominant genes was greatest to flowering, plant and ear height and standard ear weight.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi determinar o controle genético do teor de proteína em grãos e caracteres agronômicos milho (Zea mays) cultivado com diferentes níveis de adubação nitrogenada. Foram avaliados nove genitores de milho e seus híbridos, em dialelo completo, com dois níveis de adubação nitrogenada. Os caracteres avaliados foram: índice relativo de clorofila, altura de plantas, altura de espigas, produção de espigas, produção de grãos, coloração de grãos, massa de cem grãos, densidade de grãos, teor de nitrogênio nas folhas e teor de proteína nos grãos. A elevação da adubação nitrogenada promoveu aumento nos caracteres índice relativo de clorofila, altura de espigas e teor de proteínas nos grãos. Apenas a variável produção de grãos apresentou controle genético distinto nos diferentes níveis de nitrogênio. A análise dialélica mostrou significância dos efeitos dos genótipos sobre todos os caracteres, com exceção da produção de espigas e de grãos, e foi possível observar significância da heterose na maioria das variáveis. Para o teor de proteínas nos grãos, não houve significância da capacidade específica de combinação, e a capacidade geral de combinação dos genótipos teve efeito mais importante na manifestação desse caráter.

The objective of this work was to determine the genetic control grain protein content and of the agronomic traits of corn (Zea mays) at different levels of nitrogen fertilization. Nine parent populations and their hybrids were evaluated in a complete diallel mating design, with two levels of nitrogen fertilization. The variables evaluated were: relative chlorophyll index, plant height, ear height, ear production, grain yield, grain color, mass of 100 grains, density of grains, nitrogen content in the leaves and grain protein content. Increasing levels of nitrogen fertilization increased the relative chlorophyll index, ear height and grain protein content. However, only grain production had distinct genetic control at different levels of nitrogen. Diallel analysis showed significant genotype effect in all traits, except for grain and ear production. For most of the variables, there was significance of heterosis effect. For grain protein content, there was no significance for specific combining ability, and genotypes general combining ability had more important effects in the expression of this character.

By definition, the genetic effects obtained from a circulant diallel table are random. However, because of the methods of analysis, those effects have been considered as fixed. Two different statistical approaches were applied. One assumed the model to be fixed and obtained solutions through the ordinary least square (OLS) method. The other assumed a mixed model and estimated the fixed effects (BLUE) by generalized least squares (GLS) and the best linear unbiased predictor (BLUP) of the random effects. The goal of this study was to evaluate the consequences when considering these effects as fixed or random, using the coefficient of correlation between the responses of observed and non-observed hybrids. Crossings were made between S1 inbred lines from two maize populations developed at Universidade Federal de Goiás, the UFG-Samambaia "Dent" and UFG-Samambaia "Flint". A circulant inter-group design was applied, and there were five (s = 5) crossings for each parent. The predictions were made using a reduced model. Diallels with different sizes of s (from 2 to 5) were simulated, and the coefficients of correlation were obtained using two different approaches for each size of s. In the first approach, the observed hybrids were included in both the estimation of the genetic parameters and the coefficient of correlation, while in the second a cross-validation process was employed. In this process, the set of hybrids was divided in two groups: one group, comprising 75% of the original group, to estimate the genetic parameters, and a second one, consisting of the remaining 25%, to validate the predictions. In all cases, a bootstrap process with 200 resamplings was used to generate the empirical distribution of the correlation coefficient. This coefficient showed a decrease as the value of s decreased. The cross-validation method allowed to estimate the bias magnitude in evaluating the correlation coefficient using the same hybrids, to predict the genetic parameters and the correlation evaluation. The bias was shown to be greater when the OLS method was used. When the correlation coefficients of the observed and estimated hybrid means were obtained through the mixed instead of the fixed model, this decrease was less marked. The selection of hybrids superior to the checks, in terms of grain weight, also differed in the two different approaches. Nineteen percent of the hybrids were shown to be superior to the checks in the fixed models, while only 1.8% of them were superior in the mixed model.

Com o objetivo de avaliar o efeito do stress ambiental causado pelo alto teor de alumínio encontrado nos solos de cerrado sobre o comportamento meiótico, um elevado número de genótipos de milho está sendo avaliado. Neste estudo relata-se a ocorrência de fusão celular, seguida ou não de degeneração cromatínica, em meiócitos de algumas plantas de uma linhagem endogâmica cultivada em solo ácido e corrigido no planalto central Brasileiro. Os resultados não sugerem qualquer efeito do solo sobre as irregularidades observadas, pois o número de plantas afetadas foi maior dentre aquelas cultivadas em solo corrigido. As possíveis causas destas irregularidades e suas influências na produção de macho-esterilidade são discutidas.

A large number of maize genotypes are currently being evaluated to determine the effect of environmental stress caused by the aluminum found in cerrado soils on meiotic behavior. In the present study we report the occurrence of cell fusion followed or not by chromatin degeneration in meiocytes of some plants of an inbred line of maize grown on acid and corrected soil in the Brazilian central plateau. The results suggest the absence of any soil effect on the irregularities observed since the number of affected plants was higher among those grown on corrected soil. The possible causes of these irregularities and their influence on male sterility are discussed.