Understanding the genetic relationships
among breeding lines is fundamental in crop improvement
programs. The objectives of this study were to
apply selected polymorphic single sequence repeat
(SSR) DNA markers and cluster medium to late
maturing tropical elite maize inbred lines for effective
hybrid breeding. Twenty elite inbred lines were genotyped
with 20 SSR markers. The analysis detected a total
of 108 alleles. The unweighted pair group method with
arithmetic mean allocated the inbred lines into five
clusters consistent with the known pedigrees. The tested
inbred lines that were adapted to mid-altitude, subhumid
agro-ecologies were classified in different clusters,
except for a few discrepancies. The greatest genetic
distance was identified between the clusters of lines
CML-202 and Gibe-1-91-1-1-1-1. The analysis determined
the genetic grouping present in the source
population, which will assist in effective utilization of
the lines in tropical hybrid maize breeding programs to
exploit heterosis.