Breaking the tight genetic linkage between the a1 and sh2 genes led to the development of anthocyanin-rich purple-pericarp super-sweetcorn

The existence of purple-pericarp super-sweetcorn based on the supersweet mutation, shrunken2 (sh2), has not been previously reported, due to its extremely tight genetic linkage to a non-functional anthocyanin biosynthesis gene, anthocyaninless1 (a1). Generally, pericarp-pigmented starchy purple corn contains significantly higher anthocyanin. The development of purple-pericarp super-sweetcorn is dependent on breaking the a1–sh2 tight genetic linkage, which occurs at a very low frequency of < 1 in 1000 meiotic crossovers. Here, to develop purple-pericarp super-sweetcorn, an initial cross between a male purple-pericarp maize, ‘Costa Rica’ (A1Sh2.A1Sh2) and a female white shrunken2 super-sweetcorn, ‘Tims-white’ (a1sh2.a1sh2), was conducted. Subsequent self-pollination based on purple-pericarp-shrunken kernels identified a small frequency (0.08%) of initial heterozygous F3 segregants (A1a1.sh2sh2) producing a fully sh2 cob with a purple-pericarp phenotype, enabled by breaking the close genetic linkage between the a1 and sh2 genes. Resulting rounds of self-pollination generated a F6 homozygous purple-pericarp super-sweetcorn (A1A1.sh2sh2) line, ‘Tim1’. Genome sequencing revealed a recombination break between the a1 and yz1 genes of the a1–yz1-x1–sh2 multigenic interval. The novel purple-pericarp super-sweetcorn produced a similar concentration of anthocyanin and sugar as in its purple-pericarp maize and white super-sweetcorn parents, respectively, potentially adding a broader range of health benefits than currently exists with standard yellow/white sweetcorn.