SNP genotyping for fast and consistent clustering of maize inbred lines into heterotic groups

Advances in genotyping technologies have transformed the way breeding programs manage their genetic resources. The identification of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) can improve understanding diversity maize (Zea mays) inbred lines and classification into heterotic groups, which is useful determining certain crosses to obtain hybrids with higher yield performance. 293 was investigated 5252 SNPs minor allele frequency (MAF)>5%. There an average 525 per chromosome. Polymorphism information content (PIC) averaged 0.297. unweighted pair group method arithmetic mean analysis (UPGMA) principal component (PCA) based on distance matrix revealed four similar clusters high cophenetic correlation coefficients (0.953 0.863, respectively). results showed consistency between distance-based grouping groups previously established using pedigree topcross for studied.