Comparative recombination distances among Zea mays L. inbreds, wide crosses and interspecific hybrids.

Recombination distances and linkage heterogeneity were compared among a wide range of maize inbreds, wide crosses and maize x teosinte hybrids. Twelve maize and four teosinte races were backcrossed to stocks fixed for rare marker alleles on chromosome arm 1L. Recombination fraction estimates were higher for exotic germplasm than for either U.S. maize or maize x teosinte crosses. Serrano, Tuxpeño and a US-adapted inbred line of tropical origin, NC300, exhibited enhanced recombination. Three of the four maize x teosinte hybrids had little or no recombination between two loci. The observed recombination "shrinkage" resulted from an apparent inversion in the vicinity of the Amp1 locus. Average recombination distances among common marker loci for composite maps were highly variable, even when map construction was restricted to maize germplasm of similar origins.