Can expired proprietary maize (Zea mays L.) industry lines be useful for short-season breeding programs? I. grain quality and nutritional traits

Protection expired (ex-PVP) and off-patent maize (Zea mays L.) inbred lines are publicly available to utilize, after being restricted through the U.S. Patent and/or Plant Variety Protection Act for 20 years. The purpose of this study was to assess the grain quality properties of ex-PVP maize short-season inbred lines. Three sets of North Carolina Mating Design II crosses were made with 12 NDSU lines, 24 ex-PVP lines, and seven current industry testers in the 2010 and 2010-2011 seasons. Hybrids and checks were arranged in partially balanced lattice trials across six ND environments in 2011 and 2012. Both general combining ability and specific combining ability were important for regulating most grain quality traits with the preponderance of additive genetic variance. However, there is still lack of interest for developing inbred lines and hybrids with top grain quality traits. If ex-PVP inbred lines do not have the potential to compete with current lines, still, those with good combining ability for grain quality could complement other germplasm sources when the market is ready to pay premiums for a better maize quality. Public breeding programs have the opportunity to increase the value of this particular commodity and complement industry efforts for a better and more profitable crop for U.S. farmers.