Leaf-color mutants are important materials for deciphering the photosynthesis and chloroplast development. In this study, a yellow-green leaf mutant was identified and designated ygl-F17138. By making a cross with the maize inbred line B73, we constructed a F2 segregation population for the genetic analysis and the preliminary gene mapping. Genetic analysis indicated that this yellow-green phenotype was genetically controlled by a recessive nuclear gene. By deployment of BSR-seq and the linkage analysis method, this gene was allocated to an interval of about 9.2 Mb on chromosome 3 (chr3: 173087201-182203992). According to the functional annotation of known genes in this interval, no genes which regulating yellow green leaf traits similar to those previously reported were found, indicating that YGL-F17138 gene is a candidate gene controlling yellow green leaf in maize.