title: Drought Induced Changes in Growth, Osmolyte Accumulation and Antioxidant Metabolism of Three Maize Hybrids.
abstract: Consequences of drought stress in crop production systems are perhaps more deleterious than other abiotic stresses under changing climatic scenarios. Regulations of physio-biochemical responses of plants under drought stress can be used as markers for drought stress tolerance in selection and breeding. The present study was conducted to appraise the performance of three different maize hybrids (Dong Dan 80, Wan Dan 13, and Run Nong 35) under well-watered, low, moderate and SD conditions maintained at 100, 80, 60, and 40% of field capacity, respectively. Compared with well-watered conditions, drought stress caused oxidative stress by excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) which led to reduced growth and yield formation in all maize hybrids; nevertheless, negative effects of drought stress were more prominent in Run Nong 35. Drought-induced osmolyte accumulation and strong enzymatic and non-enzymatic defense systems prevented the severe damage in Dong Dan 80. Overall performance of all maize hybrids under drought stress was recorded as: Dong Dan 80 > Wan Dan 13 > Run Nong 35 with 6.39, 7.35, and 16.55% yield reductions. Consequently, these biochemical traits and differential physiological responses might be helpful to develop drought tolerance genotypes that can withstand water-deficit conditions with minimum yield losses.
authors.affiliation: College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, Southwest UniversityChongqing, China; Department of Agronomy, University of AgricultureFaisalabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Shakeel A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Anjum
authors.affiliation: Department of Crop Science and Technology, College of Agriculture, South China Agricultural UniversityGuangzhou, China; Scientific Observing and Experimental Station of Crop cultivation in South China, Ministry of AgricultureGuangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Umair
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Ashraf
authors.affiliation: Department of Agronomy, University of AgricultureFaisalabad, Pakistan; School of Land and Food, University of TasmaniaHobart, TAS, Australia.
authors.forename: Mohsin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanveer
authors.affiliation: Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Imran
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: Department of Agronomy, University of AgricultureFaisalabad, Pakistan; College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural UniversityWuhan, China.
authors.forename: Saddam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hussain
authors.affiliation: Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Babar
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shahzad
authors.affiliation: Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zohaib
authors.affiliation: Department of Crop Science and Technology, College of Agriculture, South China Agricultural UniversityGuangzhou, China; The Research Center for Ornamental Plants, College of Horticulture, South China Agricultural UniversityGuangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Farhat
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Abbas
authors.affiliation: Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Saleem
authors.affiliation: Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Iftikhar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.affiliation: College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, Southwest University Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Long C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: ROS; agronomic traits; antioxidant defense; drought; maize; yield formation