<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Saline conditions affect plant development and significantly reduce its yield. Maize (<italic>Zea mays</italic>) is the one of main cash crops in Pakistan, and unfavourable saline conditions are among the core reasons for its reduced productivity, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. The identification of potential genotypes is essential for genetic modifications. By considering this situation, the current experiment was conducted to evaluate the inbred maize lines under different salinity levels. We evaluated ten maize inbred maize lines at seedling stage under three salinity levels (0 mM, 75 mM, and 125 mM NaCl). The highly significant (p ≤ 0.001) differences in inbred lines, salinity levels, and in their interaction were revealed by analysis of variance results for most of the traits. The results indicated that inbred lines D-135 and NCIL-20-4 performed better under saline conditions. Our results showed that salinity severely affects seedling growth. Accordingly, a significant decline was observed in root length, shoot length, root weight, and shoot weight, and these traits offered the maximum values for heritability and genetic advance. From the correlation and path coefficient analysis, it has been concluded that root length, shoot length, fresh root weight, and root density are the traits that can be beneficial for the identification of better germplasms under saline conditions and that are helpful for improving tolerance against saline conditions.</p>
</abstract>

Saline conditions affect plant development and significantly reduce its yield. Maize (Zea mays) is the one of main cash crops in Pakistan, and unfavourable saline conditions are among the core reasons for its reduced productivity, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. The identification of potential genotypes is essential for genetic modifications. By considering this situation, the current experiment was conducted to evaluate the inbred maize lines under different salinity levels. We evaluated ten maize inbred maize lines at seedling stage under three salinity levels (0 mM, 75 mM, and 125 mM NaCl). The highly significant (p ≤ 0.001) differences in inbred lines, salinity levels, and in their interaction were revealed by analysis of variance results for most of the traits. The results indicated that inbred lines D-135 and NCIL-20-4 performed better under saline conditions. Our results showed that salinity severely affects seedling growth. Accordingly, a significant decline was observed in root length, shoot length, root weight, and shoot weight, and these traits offered the maximum values for heritability and genetic advance. From the correlation and path coefficient analysis, it has been concluded that root length, shoot length, fresh root weight, and root density are the traits that can be beneficial for the identification of better germplasms under saline conditions and that are helpful for improving tolerance against saline conditions.

Evaluation of genetic variation among maize inbred lines for salinity stress at seedling stage through salt-stress-responsive traits

Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics

Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Agriculture and Environment

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Saline conditions affect plant development and significantly reduce its yield. Maize (Zea mays) is the one of main cash crops in Pakistan, and unfavourable...

Evaluation of genetic variation among maize inbred lines for salinity stress at seedling stage through salt-stress-responsive traits

Publicado en línea: 27 ene 2023

Páginas: 62 - 84

Recibido: 13 ago 2022

Aceptado: 10 sept 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ausae-2022-0005

Palabras clave
heritability, genetic advance, path coefficient analysis

© 2022 Farrah Zaidi et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Evaluation of genetic variation among maize inbred lines for salinity stress at seedling stage through salt-stress-responsive traits

Publicado en línea: 27 ene 2023

Páginas: 62 - 84

Recibido: 13 ago 2022

Aceptado: 10 sept 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ausae-2022-0005

Palabras claveheritability, genetic advance, path coefficient analysis

© 2022 Farrah Zaidi et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Palabras clave
heritability, genetic advance, path coefficient analysis