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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Breeding
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1544010
This article is part of the Research Topic Genetics and Genomics of Emerging and Multifactorial Stresses Affecting Plant Survival and Associated Plant Microbiomes View all 12 articles
Use of Multi-trait Principal Component Selection Index to Identify Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) Resistant Maize Genotypes
Provisionally accepted
Wilber Wambi 1,2,3*
Dan Makumbi 1*
Godfrey Asea 4
Habtamu Zeleke 3 Bruce Y Anani 1 Mulatu Wakgari 3
Daniel Bomet Kwemoi 4
Boddupalli M Prasanna 1- 1 The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Nairobi, Kenya
- 2 Bulindi Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute, National Agricultural Research Organization, Hoima, Uganda
- 3 African Centre of Excellence for Climate-Smart Agriculture and Biodiversity Conservation, Haramaya University, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia
- 4 National Crops Resources Research Institute, Namulonge, National Agricultural Research Organization, Kampala, Uganda
The Fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) invaded sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in 2016 and has since become prevalent in many countries, causing significant maize grain yield losses and reduced grain quality. Breeding for host plant resistance to FAW requires improving multiple traits, complicating selection. This study evaluated the use of principal component (PC)-based multi-trait selection indices to identify FAW resistant maize genotypes. A total of 192 maize hybrids alongside four commercial hybrids, were evaluated over four seasons under artificial FAW infestation. Data on FAW leaf feeding damage (LD) at 7, 14, and 21 days after infestation, and ear damage (ED), ear rot (ER), and grain yield (GY) were recorded. The data were subjected to analysis of variance and PC analysis, and results used to construct two economic weight-free selection indices: PC1-based index (PC1BI) and PC2-based index (PC2BI). Broadsense heritability estimates were 0.59 to 0.73 for LD, and 0.69 for GY. The two PCs explained 97.1% of the variation among the hybrids. PC1BI, with higher loadings for the leaf feeding damage traits, showed the larger desired gains for these traits (-2.92 to -3.84%) and GY (19.9%), making it a superior index to PC2BI. PC1BI identified six promising hybrids with GY above the cutoff of 7.0 t ha -1 for selection under FAW infestation. PC2BI exhibited larger gains for ED (-11.1%) and ER (-45.4%). The index-based selected hybrids consistently outperformed the commercial hybrid checks. The PC-based indices have the potential to serve as valuable tools for breeders to maximize selection gains; however, modifications are necessary to incorporate other desirable agronomic and adaptive traits.
Keywords: Desired gain, Economic weights, host plant resistance, Index selection, Spodoptera frugiperda, Multi-trait selection, Principal Component Analysis
Received: 12 Dec 2024; Accepted: 24 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wambi, Makumbi, Asea, Zeleke, Anani, Wakgari, Kwemoi and Prasanna. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Wilber Wambi, The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Nairobi, Kenya
Dan Makumbi, The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Nairobi, Kenya
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