Rapid cycling genomic selection in maize landraces

A replicated experiment on genomic selection in a maize landrace provides valuable insights on the design of rapid cycling recurrent pre-breeding schemes and the factors contributing to their success. The genetic diversity of landraces is currently underutilized for elite germplasm improvement. In this study, we investigated the potential of rapid cycling genomic selection for pre-breeding of a maize (Zea mays L.) landrace population in replicated experiments. We trained the prediction model on a dataset (N = 899) composed of three landrace-derived doubled-haploid (DH) populations characterized for agronomic traits in 11 environments across Europe. All DH lines were genotyped with a 600 k SNP array. In two replications, three cycles of genomic selection and recombination were performed for line per se performance of early plant development, a major sustainability factor in maize production. From each cycle and replication, 100 DH lines were extracted. To evaluate selection response, the DH lines of all cycles and both replications (N = 688) were evaluated for per se performance of selected and unselected traits in seven environments. Selection was highly successful with an increase of about two standard deviations for traits under directional selection. Realized selection response was highest in the first cycle and diminished in following cycles. Selection gains predicted from genomic breeding values were only partially corroborated by realized gains estimated from adjusted means. Prediction accuracies declined sharply across cycles, but only for traits under directional selection. Retraining the prediction model with data from previous cycles improved prediction accuracies in cycles 2 and 3. Replications differed in selection response and particularly in accuracies. The experiment gives valuable insights with respect to the design of rapid cycling genomic selection schemes and the factors contributing to their success.