Contrasting Water Withholding Responses of Young Maize Plants Reveal Link Between Lipid Peroxidation and Osmotic Regulation Corroborated by Genetic Analysis.

Linking biochemistry and genetics of tolerance to osmotic stress is of interest for understanding plant adaptations to unfavorable conditions. The aims of this study were to investigate the variability in responses of panel of elite maize inbred lines to water withholding for stress-related traits through association study and to identify pathways linked to detected associations for better understanding of maize stress responses. Densely genotyped public and expired Plant Variety Protection Certificate (ex-PVP) inbred lines were planted in controlled conditions (16-h/8-h day/night, 25°C, 50% RH) in control (CO) and exposed to 10-day water withholding (WW).

Seed Weight as a Covariate in Association and Prediction Studies for Biomass Traits in Maize Seedlings.

Background: The seedling stage has received little attention in maize breeding to identify genotypes tolerant to water deficit. The aim of this study is to evaluate incorporation of seed weight (expressed as hundred kernel weight, HKW) as a covariate into genomic association and prediction studies for three biomass traits in a panel of elite inbred lines challenged by water withholding at seedling stage.

Methods: 109 genotyped-by-sequencing (GBS) elite maize inbreds were phenotyped for HKW and planted in controlled conditions (16/8 day/night, 25 °C, 50% RH, 200 µMol/m/s) in trays filled with soil.

Genetic Correlations Between Photosynthetic and Yield Performance in Maize Are Different Under Two Heat Scenarios During Flowering.

Chlorophyll fluorescence (ChlF) parameters are reliable early stress indicators in crops, but their relations with yield are still not clear. The aims of this study are to examine genetic correlations between photosynthetic performance of JIP-test during flowering and grain yield (GY) in maize grown under two heat scenarios in the field environments applying quantitative genetic analysis, and to compare efficiencies of indirect selection for GY through ChlF parameters and genomic selection for GY. The testcrosses of 221 intermated recombinant inbred lines (IRILs) of the IBM population were evaluated in six environments at two geographically distinctive locations in 3 years.

Quantitative trait loci for biofortification traits in maize grain.

Detecting genes that influence biofortification traits in cereal grain could help increase the concentrations of bioavailable mineral elements in crops to solve the global mineral malnutrition problem. The aims of this study were to detect the quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for phosphorus (P), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), and magnesium (Mg) concentrations in maize grain in a mapping population, as well as QTLs for bioavailable Fe, Zn, and Mg, by precalculating their respective ratios with P. Elemental analysis of grain samples was done by coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry in 294 F(4) lines of a biparental population taken from field trials of over 3 years.