2014 Update: CIMMYT maize inbred lines and pre-commercial hybrids with potential resistance to maize lethal necrosis (MLN)

Since 2011 MLN has become a disease of serious concern in the east African countries of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and possibly Rwanda. CIMMYT has been working in close collaboration with the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), private sector partners and virology experts from the USA to combat the disease through host-controlled resistance. A CIMMYT-KARI MLN Screening Facility was established at Naivasha in September 2013, and a large array of maize germplasm is presently being evaluated against the disease under artificial inoculation. Subsequent to the development of effective protocols, CIMMYT and KARI have been conducting MLN screening trials in Kenya since 2012, to identify promising inbred lines and pre-commercial maize hybrids with resistance to MLN. This is the second update of the information on potential MLN-resistant or moderately resistant inbred lines and pre-commercial hybrids (in CIMMYT genetic backgrounds), following the first update that was shared with public and private sector partners in May 2013.