Effects of Drought Stress on Seed Germination and Seedling Growth of Different Maize Varieties

Abstract

Maize is susceptible to drought stress, especially during germination. The experiment of seed germination and seedling growth of two maize varieties under different concentration of mannitol solution was carried out. Four mannitol concentrations were set: 0, 200, 400 and 600 mM, and the corresponding solution osmotic potential was: 0, -0.49, -0.99, and -1.49 Mpa. Results indicated that Zhengdan958 germinated more quickly and in greater numbers than Liansheng15. The germination rate, germination potential, shoot and root fresh weight, shoot and root length of two maize varieties both decreased under drought stress, but they decreased more in Liansheng15 than in Zhengdan958. However, the germination and vigor index of Zhengdan958 were obviously higher than that of Liansheng15 under the stress of 200, 400 and 600 mM mannitol. These results showed that the drought resistances of Zhengdan958 was higher than that of Liansheng15 by having more powerful root system and higher osmotic adjustment ability.

Differential characterization of physiological and biochemical responses during drought stress in finger millet varieties

“…However, the rate declined with increase in mannitol concentration treatment. Similar results have been reported in other plant species such as maize (Liu et al (2015), wheat (Yang et al, 2016) and sunflower (Ahmad et al, 2009). Seed germination process is divided into three successive stages: inhibition, metabolism that leads initiation of radicle growth, and radicle growth which primes radicle emergence.…”

Drought tolerance of wheat and black oat crops at early stages of seedling growth

“…As a result of these effects, there is a reduction in dry matter production of seedlings ( Figure 2E). Drought stress has been found to limit growth in several agricultural crops such common bean (Machado -Neto et al, 2006), soybean (Teixeira et al, 2008, sunflower (Ahmad et al, 2009), sorghum (Oliveira and Gomes -Filho, 2009), maize (Khodarahmpour, 2011, Liu et al, 2015, Zahedifar and Zohrabi, 2016 and cotton (Meneses et al, 2011). Therefore, the response characters of plants exposed to drought stress have become a crucial environmental research topic in drought--prone regions.…”

“…The seedling vigor index (SVI) has been used as a tolerance index to evaluate the effect of drought stress on seedling growth (Liu et al, 2015;Zahedifar and Zohrabi, 2016). Seedling vigor is a measure of the extent of damage that accumulates as viability declines, and the damage accumulates in seeds until the seeds are unable to germinate and eventually die (Bewley et al, 2013).…”

Growth and developmental responses of crop plants under drought stress: a review

“…Water uptake and its imbibition are dependant predominantly on the soil water availability and soil water potential. Drought stress delays imbibition process and in this way brings about diminished germination rates and at last prompts decreased germination percent and seedling vigour (Mantovani, Iglesias, 2010;Liu et al, 2015). Desclaux et al (2000) delineated that germination and seedling establishment stages are most vulnerable to drought stress.…”