Patent ID: 8900808

Claim:
A method of obtaining maize plants with increased mechanical stalk strength, the method comprising: A. obtaining genetic material from a maize plant; B. analyzing the genetic material for the presence of a QTL allele associated with increased mechanical stalk strength, wherein the presence of said QTL allele is determined by detecting a haplotype within a chromosomal interval comprising and flanked by PHM201 and PHM3323 wherein said haplotype comprises a “C” at nucleotide position 178 of SEQ ID NO:10 and a “C” or “G” at nucleotide position 195 of SEQ ID NO:10; C. selecting a maize plant having said haplotype; D. crossing said maize plant to a second maize plant; E. evaluating the progeny for the haplotype; and F. selecting the progeny plants that possess the haplotype.