The genetic resource of adapted German maize landraces is threatened to get lost. Unsolved admission standards at the Federal Office for Plant Varieties are a main obstacle for breeders to use such material. Until now each application for admission has been rejected due to missing homogeneity. Therefore, population specific marker alleles should be developed and deposited at the Federal Office for Plant Varieties as further selection criteria. A first step is the development of markers for phenotypic apparent traits. We developed three markers for red and white cob glume color and used them for selection of two maize populations. The next step would be the development of non-genic markers. Although these markers have no phenotypic effects they also do not influence yield or other physiological important traits
