Heat stress on maize with contrasting genetic background: Differences in
flowering and yield formation
Abstract
Maize grain yield greatly reduces when subjected to heat stress around
flowering and early grain filling, but the responses of temperate (Te)
and tropical (Tr) maize genotypes to heat are unclear. For this, 162
maize inbred lines with Te, Tr and Te×Tr were grown at six sowing dates
over four years of 2015 – 2018. Yield reduction was mainly a function
of low kernel number under heat stress. Kernel number on average reduced
by 73-98% under heat stress around flowering, with Tr inbred lines
having significantly smaller reductions than Te and Te×Tr inbred lines.
Kernel number reduction of Te, Tr, and Te×Tr varied largely in heat
stress, indicating there are both heat sensitive and tolerant inbred
lines in each group. Tr inbred lines on average maintained a lower
flowering – time plasticity than Te inbred lines. Post-silking growth
in a short period of approximately two weeks were most sensitive to
heat. Adjusting sowing date was a more effective strategy to reduce heat
impacts around flowering than genotypes, but sowing date and genotype
combined together only alleviated ~80% of negative
effects of heat stress on yield. Heat tolerant inbred lines used in this
study can be potential germplasm resource.