Patent ID: 7981677

Claim:
A method of identifying a first maize plant or a first maize germplasm, wherein said first maize plant or said first maize germplasm comprises a type-1 diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase (DGAT) gene in its genome, wherein said gene encodes a DGAT polypeptide having at least 90% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:48, wherein said polypeptide comprises a phenylalanine residue at the amino acid position corresponding to residue 469 of SEQ ID NO:48, and wherein said first maize plant or said first maize germplasm has a phenotype selected from the group consisting of an increased oil content, an increased oleic acid content, an increased oleic acid/linoleic acid ratio, and any combinations thereof, comprising detecting in the first maize plant or the first maize germplasm at least one polymorphism within a marker locus that is associated with said phenotype of said first maize plant or said first maize germplasm, wherein said marker locus is genetically linked with a first QTL6 region that is flanked by a first border sequence that comprises nucleotides 1-20 of SEQ ID NO:8 and a second border sequence that comprises nucleotides 573-592 of SEQ ID NO:14.