The continuous cropping in the major corn growing areas has contributed to the increase in the incidence and severity of diseases, including the diseases caused by potyvirus. It has been predominantly observed that one strain of the maize dwarf mosaic virus (MDMV) is the causal agent of the potyvirus - induced - mosaic in Brazil. The use of resistant cultivars is the most efficient method to protect crops against this virus disease. However, the identification of resistance sources and its genetic control are important requirements to establish successful breeding programs aiming the production of resistant cultivars. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine the genetic basis of resistance to maize dwarf mosaic virus using two resistant (L18 and L520) and one susceptible (L19) maize inbred lines. The parents and their respective generations F1, F2, BC1.1 and BC1.2 were artificially inoculated and the symptoms evaluation was done at 15 and 30 days after inoculation. The genetic-statistic results analyzed by the chisquare test showed that the resistance to maize dwarf mosaic virus is conditioned by a single gene with complete dominance in both resistant inbred lines. Besides, the allelism test between L18 and L520 detected a phenotypic proportion of 15 (R): 1 (S) in the F2 generation, suggesting that the resistant inbred lines carry different genes
