Variability for Agro-Morphological Traits of Maize (Zea mays L.) Inbred Lines Differing in Drought Tolerance

Drought tolerant genotypes have high yield in optimal conditions and lower, but stable yield in dry environments. Gene bank collection (6,000 accessions) of Maize Research Institute was tested under controlled drought in Egypt, and in temperate climate. The mini-core collection of 15 inbreds and 26 populations was created. Inbreds together with lines B73, A632, Mo17 and few commercial inbreds with different tolerance to drought, were evaluated for agro-morphological traits (plant and ear height, total number of leaves, number of leaves above ear, ear leaf length and width), grain yield, number of rows per ear and number of kernels per row, under optimal and increased density in the field in 2014. Since optimal precipitation for maize growing in Serbia is 425 mm, total precipitations of 873.2 mm along with the average temperature of 18.8˚C were exceptionally good for maize production. According to Principal Component Analysis, traits that contributed to the differentiation and were in common for both densities were: number of kernels per row, grain yield and leaf width. Obtained results indicated that inbreds T4 and T8 performed the highest stability, together with commercial T1 and T2 lines, in both experimental conditions. Cluster analysis based on grain yield and morphological traits, grouped them together with the other drought tolerant lines, apart of B73 and lines that showed sensitivity to drought in previous studies. Higher density conditions, simulating mild stress, contributed to more accurate separation of lines from mini-core collection, which could be used as a source for drought tolerance in breeding programs.

Keywords:

drought, inbred lines, gene bank maize,

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