Exploiting genomic tools for genetic dissection and improving the resistance to Fusarium stalk rot in tropical maize.

, and the phenotypic variance explained (PVE) values ranging from 0.94 to 8.30%. The genetic effects of the 15 favorable alleles ranged from -4.29 to -14.21% of the FSR severity. One stable genomic region at ~ 250 Mb on chromosome 1 was detected across all populations, and the PVE values of the SNPs detected in this region ranged from 2.16 to 5.18%. Prediction accuracies of FSR severity estimated with the genome-wide SNPs were moderate and ranged from 0.29 to 0.51. By incorporating genotype-by-environment interaction, prediction accuracies were improved between 0.36 and 0.55 in different breeding scenarios. Considering both the genome coverage and the threshold of the P-value of SNPs to select a subset of molecular markers further improved the prediction accuracies. These findings extend the knowledge of exploiting genomic tools for genetic dissection and improving FSR resistance in tropical maize.