Screening of tolerant maize genotypes in the low phosphorus field soil

摘要

Exploring the genetic resources of crops is an alternative method of coping with reduced phosphorus (P) availability in soils. In this study, 116 maize inbred lines with various genetic backgrounds collected from several Agricultural Universities andInstitutes in China were employed in a field experiment to indentify maize genotypes tolerant of low P soil. Overall, 15 maize inbred lines were selected from the field experiment according to the 100-grain weight in P-deficient soil at maturity when compared to the value in plants grown in P-sufficient soil. All of the selected lines were then subjected to a second field experiment to evaluate indexes for assessment of low-P tolerant maize genotypes. Based on the results of the two experiments, adventitious root angle, PO representing decrease rate of the root length, root surface area and root volume were preliminarily defined as the screening indexes of low-P tolerant genotypes in the seedling stage of the field experiment. Additionally, the 100-grain weight and grain P utilization efficiency were found to be suitable for screening indexes of low-P tolerant genotypes during the mature stage in the field experiment.