Abstract
A shortage of water acutely restricts maize plant development, which ultimately limits maize production. The identification of the potential genotypes under drought stress is essential for genetic modifications. Here, we used two-step screening, seedling and maturity stages, to confirm the potential drought-tolerant maize germplasm and provide a more concise basis for potentially effective drought-tolerant indicator traits. We evaluated inbred lines in a completely randomized design with factorial arrangements under greenhouse conditions at both developmental stages. Three levels of irrigations were applied (normal, 50% irrigation, 25% irrigation). The results indicated that inbred lines A-521-1, M-14, A-239, and OH-8 performed better than other inbred lines at both developmental stages under drought stress conditions. Seedling-stage traits such as fresh root weight, fresh shoot weight, dry root weight, dry shoot weight, and root density exhibited maximum heritability, while root length, shoot length, and chlorophyll content offered the highest genetic advance. Maturity-stage traits including grain yield per plant, leaf area, and plant height offered higher genetic advance, while cob diameter, plant height, and grain rows per cob indicated maximum optimistic influence on grain yield. Our results suggested that selection based on these traits can be beneficial for the identification of better germplasms under drought conditions. Overall, our results confirmed that comprehensive phenoty** at the seedling stage is an efficient way for rapid selection of drought-tolerant germplasm and this selection promotes yield stability at maturity stage. The best-performing inbred lines under drought stress conditions can be useful in future maize breeding programs.
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00344-022-10608-2/MediaObjects/344_2022_10608_Fig1_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00344-022-10608-2/MediaObjects/344_2022_10608_Fig2_HTML.png)
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abdel-Ghani AH, Neumann K, Wabila C, Sharma R, Dhanagond S, Owais SJ, Börner A, Graner A, Kilian B (2015) Diversity of germination and seedling traits in a spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) collection under drought simulated conditions. Genet Resour Crop Evol 62:275–292. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-014-0152-z
Ahmed HGM, Sajjad M, Li M, Azmat MA, Rizwan M, Maqsood RH, Khan SH (2019) Selection criteria for drought-tolerant bread wheat genotypes at seedling stage. Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11092584
Ahsan M, Farooq A, Khaliq I, Ali Q, Aslam M, Kashif M (2013) Inheritance of various yield contributing traits in maize (Zea mays L.) at low moisture condition. Afr J Agric Res 8:413–420. https://doi.org/10.5897/AJAR13.004
Akram R, Fahad S, Masood N, Rasool A, Ijaz M, Ihsan MZ, Maqbool MM, Ahmad S, Hussain S, Ahmed M, Kaleem S (2019) Plant growth and morphological changes in rice under abiotic stress. Advances in rice research for abiotic stress tolerance. Woodhead Publishing, Sawston, pp 69–85
Ali Q, Ahsan M, Hussain B, Elahi M, Khan NH, Ali F, Elahi F, Shahbaz M, Ejaz M, Naees M (2011) Genetic evaluation of maize (Zea mays L.) accessions under drought stress. Inter Res J Microbiol 2:437–441
Ali Q, Ali A, Waseem M, Muzaffar A, Ahmed S, Ali S, Bajwa KS, Awan MF, Samiullah TR, Nasir I et al (2014) Correlation analysis for morpho-physiological traits of maize (Zea mays L.). Life Sci J 11:9–13. https://doi.org/10.7537/marslsj1112s14.02
Ali Q, Ahsan M, Malook S, Kanwal N, Ali F, Ali A, Ahmed W, Ishfaq M, Saleem M (2016) Screening for drought tolerance: comparison of maize hybrids under water deficit condition. Adv Life Sci 3:51–58
Ali F, Ahsan M, Ali Q, Kanwal N (2017) Phenotypic stability of Zea mays grain yield and its attributing traits under drought stress. Front Plant Sci 8:1397–1407. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2017.01397
Anjum SA, Ashraf U, Tanveer M, Khan I, Hussain S, Shahzad B, Zohaib A, Abbas F, Saleem MF, Ali I et al (2017) Drought induced changes in growth, osmolyte accumulation and antioxidant metabolism of three maize hybrids. Front Plant Sci 8:69. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2017.00069
Araus JL, Slafer GA, Reynolds MP, Royo C (2002) Plant breeding and drought in C3 cereals: what should we breed for? Ann Bot 89:925–940. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcf049
Avramova V, Nagel KA, AbdElgawad H, Bustos D, DuPlessis M, Fiorani F, Beemster GT (2016) Screening for drought tolerance of maize hybrids by multi-scale analysis of root and shoot traits at the seedling stage. J Exp Bot 67:2453–2466. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erw055
Barnabás B, Jäger K, Fehér A (2008) The effect of drought and heat stress on reproductive processes in cereals. Plant Cell Environ 31:11–38. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3040.2007.01727.x
Bashir N, Mahmood S, Zafar ZU, Rasul S (2016) Is drought tolerance in maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars at the juvenile stage maintained at the reproductive stage? Pak J Bot 48:1385–1392
Beiragi MA, Sar ASB, Geive HS, Alhossini MN, Rahmani A, Gharibdoosti AB (2012) Application of the multivariate analysis method for some traits in maize. Afric J Agric Res 7:1524–1533. https://doi.org/10.5897/AJAR11.1595
Berzsenyi Z, Dang QL, Micskei G, Takács N (2006) Effect of sowing date and N fertilisation on grain yield and photosynthetic rates in maize (Zea mays L.). Cereal Res Commun 34:409–412
Binodh AK, Manivannan N, Varman PV (2008) Character association and path analysis in sunflower. Madras Agric J 95:425–428
Boyer JS (1982) Plant productivity and environment. Science 218:443–448. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.218.4571.443
Boyer JS, Byrne P, Cassman KG, Cooper M, Delmer D, Greene T, Gruis F, Habben J, Hausmann N, Kenny N et al (2013) The U.S. drought of 2012 in perspective: a call to action. Glob Food Secur 2:139–143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2013.08.002
Bruce WB, Edmeades GO, Barker TC (2002) Molecular and physiological approaches to maize improvement for drought tolerance. J Exp Bot 53:13–22. https://doi.org/10.1093/jexbot/53.366.13
Chavan S, Gray J, Smith SM (2015) Diversity and evolution of Rp1 rust resistance genes in four maize lines. Theor Appl Genet 128:985–998. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-015-2484-2
Chen J, Xu W, Velten J, **n Z, Stout J (2012) Characterization of maize inbred lines for drought and heat tolerance. J Soil Water Conserv 67:354–364. https://doi.org/10.2489/jswc.67.5.354
Chloupek O, Dostál V, Středa T, Psota V, Dvořáčková O (2010) Drought tolerance of barley varieties in relation to their root system size. Plant Breed 129:630–636. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0523.2010.01801.x
Chowdhury MK, Hasan MA, Bahadur MM, Islam MR, Hakim MA, Iqbal MA, Javed T, Raza A, Shabbir R, Sorour S et al (2021) Evaluation of drought tolerance of some wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes through phenology, growth, and physiological indices. Agronomy 11:1792. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11091792
Cirilo AG, Dardanelli J, Balzarini M, Andrade FH, Cantarero M, Luque S, Pedrol HM (2009) Morpho-physiological traits associated with maize crop adaptations to environments differing in nitrogen availability. Field Crops Res 113:116–124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2009.04.011
Costa MM, Di Mauro AO, Unêda-Trevisoli SH, Arriel NH, Bárbaro IM, Silveira GD, Muniz FR (2008) Heritability estimation in early generations of two-way crosses in soybean. Bragantia 67:101–108. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0006-87052008000100012
Daryanto S, Wang L, Jacinthe PA (2016) Global synthesis of drought effects on maize and wheat production. PLoS ONE 11:e0156362. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0156362
Dewey DR, Lu K (1959) Correlation and path coefficient analysis of components of crested wheat grass seed production. Agron J 51:515–518. https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj1959.00021962005100090002x
Ding L, Wang KJ, Jiang GM, Liu MZ, Gao LM (2007) Photosynthetic rate and yield formation in different maize hybrids. Biol Plant 51:165–168. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10535-007-0032-x
Doğru A, Bayram NE (2016) A study on drought stress tolerance in some maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars. Sakarya Univ J Sci 20:509–519. https://doi.org/10.16984/saufenbilder.25673
El-Badawy MEM, Mehasen SAS (2011) Multivariate analysis for yield and its components in maize under zinc and nitrogen fertilization levels. Aust J Basic Appl Sci 5:3008–3015
Fahad S, Bajwa AA, Nazir U, Anjum SA, Farooq A, Zohaib A, Sadia S, Nasim W, Adkins S, Saud S, Ihsan MZ (2017) Crop production under drought and heat stress: plant responses and management options. Front Plant Sci 8:1147–1162. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2017.01147
Farooq M, Wahid A, Kobayashi N, Fujita DB, Basra SM (2009) Plant drought stress: effects, mechanisms and management. Agron Sustain Dev 29:185–212. https://doi.org/10.1051/agro:2008021
Gazal A, Dar ZA, Lone AA, Yousuf N, Gulzar S (2018) Studies on maize yield under drought using correlation and path coefficient analysis. Int J Curr Microbiol Appl Sci 7:516–521. https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2018.701.062
Glogovac S, Takač A, Gvozdanović-Varga J (2010) Tomato (L. esculentum Mill.) genotypes variability of fruit traits. Genetika 42:397–406. https://doi.org/10.2298/GENSR1003397G
Ho MD, Rosas JC, Brown KM, Lynch JP (2005) Root architectural tradeoffs for water and phosphorus acquisition. Funct Plant Biol 32:737–748. https://doi.org/10.1071/FP05043
Hussain M, Malik MA, Farooq M, Ashraf MY, Cheema MA (2008) Improving drought tolerance by exogenous application of glycinebetaine and salicylic acid in sunflower. J Agron Crop Sci 194:193–199. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-037X.2008.00305.x
Hussain I, Ahsan M, Saleem M, Ahmad A (2009) Gene action studies for agronomic traits in maize under normal and water stress conditions. Pak J Agric Sci 46:107–112
Iqbal MS, Singh AK, Ansari MI (2020) Effect of drought stress on crop production. In: Rakshit A, Singh H, Singh A, Singh U, Fraceto L (eds) New frontiers in stress management for durable agriculture. Springer, Singapore, pp 35–47
Jha Y (2019) Regulation of water status, chlorophyll content, sugar, and photosynthesis in maize under salinity by mineral mobilizing bacteria. Photosynth Prod Environ Stress. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119501800.ch5
Kamara AY, Menkir A, Badu-Apraku B, Ibikunle O (2003) The influence of drought stress on growth, yield and yield components of selected maize genotypes. J Agric Sci 141:43–50. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021859603003423
Karaba A, Dixit S, Greco R, Aharoni A, Trijatmiko KR, Marsch-Martinez N, Krishnan A, Nataraja KN, Udayakumar M, Pereira A (2007) Improvement of water use efficiency in rice by expression of HARDY, an Arabidopsis drought and salt tolerance gene. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104:15270–15275. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0707294104
Kashiwagi J, Krishnamurthy L, Crouch JH, Serraj R (2006) Variability of root length density and its contributions to seed yield in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) under terminal drought stress. Field Crops Res 95:171–181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2005.02.012
Kaushik SK, Tomar DS, Dixit AK (2011) Genetics of fruit yield and its contributing characters in tomato (Solanum lycopersicom). J Agric Biotech Sustain Dev 3:209–213. https://doi.org/10.5897/JABSD11.027
Kaya MD, Okçu G, Atak M, Cıkılı Y, Kolsarıcı Ö (2006) Seed treatments to overcome salt and drought stress during germination in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). Eur J Agron 24:291–295. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eja.2005.08.001
Kaydan D, Yagmur M (2008) Germination, seedling growth and relative water content of shoot in different seed sizes of triticale under osmotic stress of water and NaCl. Afr J Biotechnol 7:2862–2868. https://doi.org/10.5897/AJB08.512
Khalid M, Gul A, Amir R, Mohsin A, Afzal F, Quraishi UM, Zubair A, Rasheed A (2018) QTL map** for seedling morphology under drought stress in wheat cross synthetic (W7984)/Opata. Plant Genetic Res 16:359–366. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1479262118000023
Khan NH, Ahsan M, Saleem M, Ali A (2014) Genetic association among various morpho-physiological traits of Zea mays under drought condition. Life Sci J 11:112–122. https://doi.org/10.7537/marslsj1110s14.19
Khan NH, Ahsan M, Naveed M, Sadaqat HA, Javed I (2016) Genetics of drought tolerance at seedling and maturity stages in Zea mays L. Span J Agric Res 14(3):e0705. https://doi.org/10.5424/sjar/2016143-8505
Khan MN, Zhang J, Luo T, Liu J, Ni F, Rizwan M, Fahad S, Hu L (2019) Morpho-physiological and biochemical responses of tolerant and sensitive rapeseed cultivars to drought stress during early seedling growth stage. Acta Physiol Plant 41:25. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-019-2812-2
Khayatnezhad M, Gholamin R (2012) The effect of drought stress on leaf chlorophyll content and stress resistance in maize cultivars (Zea mays). Afr J Microbiol Res 6:2844–2848. https://doi.org/10.5897/AJMR11.964
Kown SH, Torrie JH (1964) Heritability and inter-relationship among traits of two soybean populations. Crop Sci 4:196–198. https://doi.org/10.2135/cropsci1964.0011183X000400020023x
Kumar B, Abdel-Ghani AH, Reyes-Matamoros J, Hochholdinger F, Lübberstedt T (2012) Genotypic variation for root architecture traits in seedlings of maize (Zea mays L.) inbred lines. Plant Breed 131:465–478. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0523.2012.01980.x
Liu M, Li M, Liu K, Sui N (2015) Effects of drought stress on seed germination and seedling growth of different maize varieties. J Agric Sci 7:231–240. https://doi.org/10.5539/jas.v7n5p231
Lobell D, Bänziger M, Magorokosho C, Vivek B (2011a) Nonlinear heat effects on African maize as evidenced by historical yield trials. Nat Clim Change 1:42–45. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1043
Lobell DB, Schlenker W, Costa-Roberts J (2011b) Climate trends and global crop production since 1980. Sci 333:616–620. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1204531
Maheswari M, Tekula VL, Yellisetty V, Sarkar B, Yadav SK, Singh J, Babu GS, Kumar A, Amirineni S, Narayana J et al (2016) Functional mechanisms of drought tolerance in maize through phenoty** and genoty** under well watered and water stressed conditions. Eur J Agron 79:43–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eja.2016.05.008
Mahmood Z, Malik SR, Akhtar R, Rafique T (2004) Heritability and genetic advance estimates from maize genotypes in Shishi Lusht a valley of Krakurm. Int J Agric Biol 6:790–791
Mustafa HSB, Ahsan M, Aslam M, Ali Q, Bibi T, Mehmood T (2013) Genetic variability and traits association in maize (Zea mays L.) accessions under drought stress. J Agric Res 51:231–238
Nakashima K, Yamaguchi-Shinozaki K, Shinozaki K (2014) The transcriptional regulatory network in the drought response and its crosstalk in abiotic stress responses including drought, cold, and heat. Front Plant Sci 5:170. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2014.00170
Okçu G, Kaya MD, Atak M (2005) Effects of salt and drought stresses on germination and seedling growth of pea (Pisum sativum L.). Turk J Agric for 29:237–242
Perveen AI, Hussain R, Rasheed S, Mahmood S, Wahid A (2013) Growth bioregulatory role of root-applied thiourea, changes in growth, toxicity symptoms and photosynthetic pigments of maize. Pak J Agric Sci 50:455–462
R Core Team (2014) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna
Rubino DB, Davis DW (1990) Response of a sweet corn x tropical maize composite to mass selection for temperate-zone adaptation. J Am Soc Hortic Sci 115:848–853. https://doi.org/10.21273/JASHS.115.5.848
Rucker KS, Kvien CK, Holbrook CC, Hook JE (1995) Identification of peanut genotypes with improved drought avoidance traits. Peanut Sci 24:14–18. https://doi.org/10.3146/pnut.22.1.0003
Shah S, Shah Z, Khalail SK, Amanullah J, Jan MT, Afzal M, Akbar H, Khan H, Nawab K, Muhammad F (2014) Effects of variable nitrogen source and rate on leaf area index and total dry matter accumulation in maize (Zea mays L.) genotypes under calcareous soils. Turk J Field Crops 19:276–284. https://doi.org/10.17557/tjfc.90307
Shahzad A, Qian M, Sun B, Mahmood U, Li S, Fan Y, Chang W, Dai L, Zhu H, Li J et al (2021) Genome-wide association study identifies novel loci and candidate genes for drought stress tolerance in rapeseed. Oil Crop Sci 6:12–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocsci.2021.01.002
Shao HB, Chu LY, Jaleel CA, Zhao CX (2008) Water-deficit stress-induced anatomical changes in higher plants. C R Biol 331:215–225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crvi.2008.01.002
Sharp RE, Davies WJ (1979) Solute regulation and growth by roots and shoots of water-stressed maize plants. Planta 147:43–49. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00384589
Shiferaw B, Prasanna BM, Hellin J, Bänziger M (2011) Crops that feed the world 6. Past successes and future challenges to the role played by maize in global food security. Food Secur 3:307–327. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-011-0140-5
Shilpashree N, Devi SN, Manjunathagowda DC, Muddappa A, Abdelmohsen SA, Tamam N, Elansary HO, El-Abedin TKZ, Abdelbacki AM, Janhavi V (2021) Morphological characterization, variability and diversity among vegetable soybean (Glycine max L.) genotypes. Plants 10:671. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10040671
Singh RK, Chaudhary BD (1985) Biometric methods in quantitative genetics analysis, 3rd edn. Kalyani Publishers, New Delhi, pp 69–78
Srividhya A, Vemireddy LR, Ramanarao PV, Sridhar S, Jayaprada M, Anuradha G, Srilakshmi B, Reddy HK, Hariprasad AS, Siddiq EA (2011) Molecular map** of QTLs for drought related traits at seedling stage under PEG induced stress conditions in rice. Am J Plant Sci 2:190–201. https://doi.org/10.4236/ajps.2011.22021
Stewart DW, Dwyer LM (1999) Mathematical characterization of leaf shape and area of maize hybrids. Crop Sci 39:422–427. https://doi.org/10.2135/cropsci1999.0011183X0039000200021x
Tandzi LN, Ngonkeu EM, Nartey E, Yeboah M, Mafouasson HA, Moche K, Tekeu H, Ngeve J, Gracen V (2015) Morphological characterization of selected maize (Zea mays L.) inbred lines under acid soil conditions. Int J Curr Res 7:15538–15544
Tester M, Langridge P (2010) Breeding technologies to increase crop production in a changing world. Science 327:818–822. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1183700
Thirunavukkarasu N, Hossain F, Arora K, Sharma R, Shiriga K, Mittal S, Mohan S, Namratha PM, Dogga S, Rani TS et al (2014) Functional mechanisms of drought tolerance in subtropical maize (Zea mays L.) identified using genome-wide association map**. BMC Genom 15:1182. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2164-15-1182
USDA, FAS (2021) World agriculture production (Foreign Agricultural Service/USDA). https://apps.fas.usda.gov/psdonline/circulars/production.pdf. Accessed on 13 Feb 2021
Wang Y, Xu C, Zhang B, Wu M, Chen G (2017) Physiological and proteomic analysis of rice (Oryza sativa L.) in flag leaf during flowering stage and milk stage under drought stress. Plant Growth Regul 82:201–218. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-017-0252-9
Webber H, Ewert F, Olesen JE, Müller C, Fronzek S, Ruane AC, Bourgault M, Martre P, Ababaei B, Bindi M et al (2018) Diverging importance of drought stress for maize and winter wheat in Europe. Nat Commun 9:1–10. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-06525-2
Weber VS, Melchinger AE, Magorokosho C, Makumbi D, Bänziger M, Atlin GN (2012) Efficiency of managed-stress screening of elite maize hybrids under drought and low nitrogen for yield under rainfed conditions in Southern Africa. Crop Sci 52:1011–1020. https://doi.org/10.2135/cropsci2011.09.0486
Wu Y, Cosgrove DJ (2000) Adaptation of roots to low water potentials by changes in cell wall extensibility and cell wall proteins. J Exp Bot 51:1543–1553. https://doi.org/10.1093/jexbot/51.350.1543
**ang K, Yang KC, Pan GT, Reid LM, Li WT, Zhu X, Zhang ZM (2010) Genetic diversity and classification of maize landraces from China’s Sichuan Basin based on agronomic traits, quality traits, combining ability and SSR markers. Maydica 55:85–93
Yordanov I, Velikova V, Tsonev T (2000) Plant responses to drought, acclimation, and stress tolerance. Photosynthetica 38:171–186. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007201411474
Zare M, Choukan R, Heravan EM, Bihamta MR, Ordookhani K (2011) Gene action of some agronomic traits in corn (Zea mays L.) using diallel cross analysis. Afr J Agric Res 6:693–703. https://doi.org/10.5897/AJAR10.646
Zhang W, Zhao Z, Bai G, Fu F (2008) Study and evaluation of drought resistance of different genotype maize inbred lines. Front Agric China 2:428–434. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11703-008-0071-x
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by The National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFD0300606).
Funding
Funding was provided by Department of Science and Technology (Grant No. 345632).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
AS and HG performed the experiments, measurements, and analyses; AS, HG, and DW wrote the manuscript draft; MA, DW, and SF reviewed, edited, and completed the manuscript. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing interest.
Additional information
Handling Editor: Heather Nonhebel.
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shahzad, A., Gul, H., Ahsan, M. et al. Comparative Genetic Evaluation of Maize Inbred Lines at Seedling and Maturity Stages Under Drought Stress. J Plant Growth Regul 42, 989–1005 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-022-10608-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-022-10608-2