The Influence of Parental Heat-Stress Priming on Drought-Tolerant Maize Progenies’ Field Performance

Uchechukwu Paschal Chukwudi, Funso Raphael Kutu and Sydney Mavengahama
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Uchechukwu Paschal Chukwudi: Food Security and Safety Niche Area, School of Agricultural Sciences, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, North-West University, Mmabatho 2745, South Africa
Funso Raphael Kutu: School of Agricultural Sciences, University of Mpumalanga, Mbombela 1200, South Africa
Sydney Mavengahama: Food Security and Safety Niche Area, School of Agricultural Sciences, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, North-West University, Mmabatho 2745, South Africa

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 11, issue 12, 1-15

Abstract: Maize ( Zea mays L.) is a staple crop and an industrial crop. Improving its thermotolerance will be a crucial step in ensuring food security. The objective of this research was to assess the influence of the parental growth environment on their progenies in a non-heat stress environment. The progenies evaluated in this field study were obtained from a 2 × 3 × 3 factorial in a completely randomised greenhouse experiment. Two contrasting growth environments, three maize varieties, and three soil amendments were used in the greenhouse study. A randomised complete block design experiment with three replications was used to grow the progenies. The progenies were examined for nineteen morphological attributes. In this study, 69.51% of the yield variation was explained by the first and second principal component axes. Among the studied attributes, grain weight and cob weight explained more variations in the progenies than the other attributes. The interaction of the parental heat-stress and soil amendment conditions elicited different responses from the drought-tolerant maize progenies. Based on the differences in their yield attributes, the progenies were grouped as poor yielders (Cluster IV), good yielders (Cluster I) and high yielders (Clusters II and III). The parental growth environment influenced the progenies’ field performance in a non-heat-stress environment. Further evaluation of the progenies under a heat-stress environment and molecular analyses are required to establish that a transgenerational effect has occurred.

Keywords: heat stress; maternal effect; stress memory; thermotolerance; transgenerational effect; Zea mays L. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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