Identification And Analysis Of Maize Inbred Lines In Drought Tolerance At Seedling Stage

The worldwide production of maize (Zea mays L.) is frequently impacted by drought tolerance, which severely affects the growth and production of maize. Breeding drought-tolerance varieties is the most effective way to solve this problem. In this study, eighty-nine backbone inbred lines were selected to study the effects on drought tolerance at seedling stage. The drought tolerance related indexes, WLR, RWC, MDA and Pro contents were measured, and the correlation and variance analysis were performed. The drought tolerance of eighty-nine backbone inbred lines were evaluated and classified by measuring the membership function and D value. The results showed that four physiological indexes are affected by drought stress, and the most sensitive index is Pro, followed by MDA, WLR and RWC. Simultaneously, the variance analysis showed that the MDA reaches significant level, and Pro, WLR and RWC reach extremely significant level in interaction between varieties and treatment, indicating that Pro, MDA, WLR and RWC can be used as the main indicators to identify the drought tolerance of maize inbred lines at seedling stage. According to D value and the membership function, eighty-nine maize backbone inbred lines were divided into four grades: high drought-tolerance, drought-tolerance, moderate drought-tolerance, and low drought-tolerance lines. These results can provide theoretical guidance for identifying and screening the drought-tolerance lines in order to improve drought tolerance in maize.