Relationships between Laboratory Germination Tests and Field Emergence of Maize Inbreds

Abstract

In the USA and Europe, maize (Zea mays L.) is often planted into soils that are or become cold and wet resulting in reduced field emergence, poor stands, and lower economic yields. This study was conducted to determine the relative merits of two germination tests, the cold and soak tests, for prediction of field emergence when soil temperatures are suboptimal for germination. The effects of initial seed moisture on field emergence were also investigated. Field emergence of 48 maize inbred lines was measured in eight locations in 1986 and 1987. The seeds of each inbred were also cold and soak tested. Seeds taken directly from conditioned storage and seeds dried to 80 g kg−1 moisture were used in these studies. In 1986, the cold and soak test were equally correlated with field emergence r = 0.43** (significant at the 0.01 level of probability) and 0.40** respectively. In 1987, the cold test was more highly correlated with field emergence (r = 0.74**) than the soak test (r = 0.43**). These correlations between laboratory germination tests and field emergence were affected by both location and year. Drying seeds to 80 g kg−1 moisture resulted in an overall 5% decrease in field emergence in both years. There was a significant inbred line‐by‐year interaction, but only one inbred was significantly affected in both years. The value of these germination tests as a tool to aid selection was also investigated and both tests were equally accurate (60% agreement) at predicting those inbreds with field emergence in the lower 30% in both years. The soak test may be considered a rapid, inexpensive, and effective selection tool for elimination of those inbreds with poor field emergence, however, the cold test was superior for prediction of the field emergence of a wide range of inbred lines in a number of environments.

Seedling Growth, Mitochondrial Characteristics, and Alternative Respiratory Capacity of Corn Genotypes Differing in Cold Tolerance

“…B73 and B49 are considered cold-tolerant whereas G50 and G84 are considered cold-sensitive. Field data on cold tolerance of these inbreds is available (10).…”

“…These practices result in slower warming of soils in the early spring compared to more extensive tillage, particularly that done in the previous fall. Thus, physiological characteristics that improve germination and early seedling growth at low temperatures are increasingly of interest to maize producers (10).…”

“…We measured growth rates and alternative oxidase capacities of two cold-tolerant and two cold-sensitive inbreds (10) and made measurements of related mitochondrial characteristics of one cold-tolerant and one cold-sensitive inbred. The practical lower limit for seedling growth is 12 to 14°C.…”

Métodos alternativos do teste de frio para avaliação do vigor de sementes de milho

“…Band eja "te rra " + pa pel (Rush & Neal, 1951); danos causados pelas condições de armazenamento das sementes (Goodsell et al, 1955); danos causados por secagem excessiva (Loeffler et al, 1985;Martin et al, 1988); grau de umidade das sementes (Cal & Obendorf, 1972); injúrias ao pericarpo (Tatum, 1954); tratamento de sementes (Meulen & Henke, 1948;Hoppe, 1956). Dependendo da causa determinante da baixa qualidade das sementes, a resposta poderá ser mais ou menos drástica, dificultando a interpretação dos resultados (Marcos Filho et al, 1987).…”

Methods for identifying frost injury in immature maize seed

“…They proposed that, although the saturated cold test is more time consuming than the soak test, it has a higher correlation to field emergence than the soak test (Martin et al, 1988). Martin et al (1988) speculated that the differences between the saturated cold test and the soak test may have originated from damage caused when seed was over dried prior to storage. The authors concluded that lower moisture seed is more sensitive to chilling injury, which decreased saturated cold test germination compared to the soak test.…”