Fall armyworm FAW, [Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) is a destructive maize (Zea mays L.) pest causing severe global yield losses. Identification of genomic regions and molecular markers for FAW resistance is crucial for marker-assisted breeding. A panel of 260 Asia‑adopted maize inbred lines was screened across rainy/wet seasons 2022 and 2023 using three leaf damage scores (LS1, LS2, and LS3) in a partially replicated design and genotyped with 3,305 genome-wide DArTag markers, along with 13 reported FAW-related SNPs and 20 SSRs. Association analyses using GLM initially identified six significant markers for LS1 in 2022, while single marker regression revealed fourteen markers for LS1 and eight for LS2 across seasons. Stepwise regression models explained moderate phenotypic variation overall (r2 = 0.10–0.20), with LS1 models (0.16–0.20) contributing more than LS2 (0.10–0.12), indicating stronger early-stage genetic effects. Genomic prediction using Bayesian Ridge Regression showed moderate prediction accuracies (0.54–0.60 for LS1 and 0.40–0.41 for LS2), highlighting the potential for predicting early and mid-stage FAW tolerance. These findings provide a foundation for validating candidate genes and integrating genomic tools into breeding programs for sustainable FAW-resistant maize improvement.
Desika et al. (Thu,) studied this question.