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This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).]#br# Dwarfing and dense-planting application of the dwarf gene CYP90D1 derived from maize-Tripsacum-Zea perennis allopolyploid (MTP) in Xianyu 335#br#

Zhou Yang1,Ma Zhi-Bin1,Ayesha Khalid1,Li Yang1,2,Shi Xia-Hong1,Li Xiao-Juan1,Wang Ze-Hua1,Wang Xing-Yu1,Yang Tao1, Chen Yu1,Zhang Yi-Bo1,Zhang Jian3,He Jian-Mei1,Rong Ting-Zhao1,Tang Qi-Lin1,*   

  1. 1 Maize Research Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, Sichuan, China; 2 Mianyang Teacher’s College, Mianyang 621000, Sichuan, China; 3 Sichuan Forestry and Grassland Development Research Center, Chengdu 610082, Sichuan, China.
  • Received:2026-03-30 Revised:2026-08-21 Accepted:2026-08-21 Published:2026-09-01
  • Supported by:
    This study was supported by the Youth B Project of Sichuan Provincial Natural Science Foundation (2026NSFSC0952), the General Project of Sichuan Provincial Natural Science Foundation (2025ZNSFSC0151), the General Project of National Natural Science Foundation (32272035), the Sichuan Corn Innovation Team of National Modern Agricultural Industry Technology System (SCCXTD-2024-2), and the Special Project for Rural Revitalization Science and Technology Demonstration Counties in Qinghai Province (2024-NK-X02).

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Abstract: Plant height and lodging resistance are pivotal traits determining the yield potential of dwarf maize under high-density planting. However, the scarcity of dwarfing gene resources has considerably constrained the progress of breeding dwarf maize for dense planting. In this study, the novel dwarfing gene CYP90D1 derived from T. dactyloides encodes a cytochrome P450 monooxygenase involved in the brassinosteroid biosynthesis pathway. CYP90D1 was introgressed into the parental lines of the maize hybrid Xianyu 335 through molecular marker-assisted rapid transfer technology to develop new dwarf lines PH6WCd024 and PH4CVd024, and dwarf-improved Xianyu 335, (PH6WCd024×PH4CVd024). Using Xianyu 335 as the control, four planting densities were established: 60,000 (D1), 82,500 (D2), 105,000 (D3), and 127,500 plants hm?2 (D4), to systematically evaluate the agronomic characteristics, lodging resistance, yield, and yield components of dwarf-improved Xianyu 335 across different densities. Compared with the control, dwarf-improved Xianyu 335 exhibited significant reductions of 33.39% and 21.66% in plant height and ear height, respectively, along with a 6.04% increase in stem diameter. It also displayed a compact plant architecture, characterized by an 11.47% decrease in the number of stem nodes above the panicle and a 31.03% reduction in the average length of stem nodes below the panicle. With increasing planting density, the whole-plant bending strength of dwarf-improved Xianyu 335 increased by 7.35%–22.25%, the bending strength of basal internodes increased by 9.38%–40.07%, and the lodging resistance index increased by 1.08- to 1.60-fold, with its lodging rate being consistently lower than that of the control across all densities. At D3 and D4, the mean yield of dwarf-improved Xianyu 335 across the two test sites was significantly higher than that of the control by 7.92% and 30.88%, respectively; the average harvest index was significantly higher by 17.53% and 44.04%, respectively; and the average leaf area index was significantly lower by 37.06% and 37.44%, respectively. The dwarf-improved Xianyu 335 achieved the highest average yield (10.17 t hm?2) at the D4 across the two test sites, which was 3.56% higher than the highest average yield (9.82 t hm?2) of the control at D2. The average lodging resistance index increased by 27.63%, and the average leaf area index decreased by 12.23%. In conclusion, this study represents the first application of the T. dactyloides-derived dwarfing gene CYP90D1 in the Xianyu 335, confirming that it significantly dwarfs plants, optimizes canopy structure, and improves lodging resistance, while achieving increased yield and harvest index through close planting. This provides an excellent genetic resource and a theoretical basis for breeding dwarf maize with high-density tolerance, lodging resistance, and high yield. 

Key words: maize, dwarf gene CYP90D1, marker-assisted breeding, density, yield, lodging resistance index

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