Fig. 1.

Phenotypic performance of N531, IL_A and IL_B. a Micrograph of 5-mm immature ears of N531, IL_A and IL_B, imaged with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). White lines represent inflorescence meristem diameters. Bar = 500 μm. b Statistical analysis of inflorescence meristem diameters among N531, IL_A and IL_B. c Statistical analysis of kernel row number among N531, IL_A and IL_B. P-values were estimated based on the two-tailed Student’s t-test, * P < 0.05, ** P < 0.01, N = 9