Assessing cold tolerance heterosis at corn seedling stage using some physiological traits

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Ph.D.Student, Dept. ofPlant Production and Genetic Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran

2 Assoc.Prof.,Dept. of Plant Production and Genetic Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran

3 Assist. Prof.,Dept. of Plant Production and Genetic Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran

4 Prof., Misión Biológica de Galicia, Member of the Genetics Department of the International Research Council of Spain (CSIC), Calle Serrano 117, 28006 Madrid, Spain

Abstract

Corn susceptibility to cold stress during early autotrophic growth is an important limitation for its cultivation in the cold areas. To identify the physiological basis of cold tolerance heterosis in maize seedlings, the changes of some physiological traits were studied in maize cold tolerant and susceptible inbred lines and hybrids at seedling stage in University of Zanjan, Iran, in 2017. The results showed that the effect of cold treatment onchlorophyll fluorescence, relative water content, electrolyte leakage,chlorophyll acontent, chlorophyll bcontent, carotenoids, root volume, root area androot dry weight were significant. The better-parent heterosis was detected in chlorophyll b content, root area, root volume and electrolyte leakage in most hybrids. Performance of MO17×EP80 hybrid was better than other hybrids for all physiological traits under stress conditions. EP42×MO17 and A661×MO17 hybrids also had better root growth and extension under cold stress conditions.The significant correlation was only observed between heterosis values of some traits that had a common genetic, physiological and developmental basis, such as root dry weight and relative water content or chlorophyll b content and electrolyte leakage. However, the correlation between heterosis values of the other traits was generally poor, indicatingthat the genetic basis of heterosis is trait dependent and probably not controlled by a single mechanism. The significant differences among genotypes in all traits, provide a new opportunitto improve cold stress tolerance in a tropical plant using plant breeding.

Keywords


Ahmadzadeh, A., Lee, E. A. and Tollenaar, M. 2004. Heterosis for leaf CO2exchange rate during the grain-filling period in maize. Crop Science 44:2095-2100.##Akhavan, S., Shabanpour, M. and Isfahani, M. 2012. Effect of soil compaction and texture on the root growth and shoot of wheat. Journal of Soil and Water 26(3): 727-735. (In Persian with English Abstract).##Ali, F., Ahsan, M., Saeed, N. A., Ahmed, M., Ali, Q., Kanwal N, Tehseen, M. M., Ijaz, U., Bibi, I. and Niazi, N. K. 2014. Establishment and optimization of callus-to-plant regeneration system using mature and immature embryos of maize (Zea mays). International Journal of Agriculture and Biology16 (1): 111-117.##Araus, J. L., Sanchez, C. and Cabrera-Bosquet, L. 2010. Is heterosis in maize mediated through better water use? New Phytologist 187: 392-406.##Arvin, M.J. and Donnelly, D.J. 2008. Screening potato cultivars and wild species to abiotic stresses usinganelectrolyteleakagebioassay.JournalofAgriculturalScienceandTechnology10(1):33-42.##Ashby, E. 1930. Studies in the inheritance of physiological characters. I. A physiological investigation of the nature of hybrid vigour in maize. Annals of Botany 44: 457-468.##Aslam, M., Basra, Sh, M. A., Maqbool, M. A., Bilal, H., Zaman, Q. U. and Bano, S. 2013. Physiochemical distinctiveness and metroglyph analysis of cotton genotypes at early growth stage under saline hydroponics. International Journal of Agriculture and Biology 15 (6): 1133-1139.##Auger, D. L., Gray, A. D., Ream, T. S., Kato, A. Coe, E. H. and Birchler, J. A. 2005. Non-additive gene expression in diploid and triploid hybrids of maize. Genetics 169 (1): 389-397.##Baker, N. R. and Rosenqvist, E. 2004. Applications of chlorophyll fluorescence can improve crop production strategies: An examination of future possibilities. Journal of Experimental Botany
55(403): 1607-1621.##Bano, S., Aslam, M., Saleem, M., Basra, S. M. A. and Aziz, K. 2015. Evaluation of maize accessions under low temperature stress at early growth stages. The Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences 25(2): 392-400.##Betran, F. J., Ribaut, J. M., Beck, D. and Gonzalez, L. D. 2003. Genetic diversity, specific combining ability, and heterosis in tropical maize under stress and nonstress environments. Crop Science 43: 797-806.##Bhardway, R. and Singhal, G. 1981. Effect of water stress on photo chemical activity of chloroplasts during greening etiolated barley seed ling. Plant and Cell Physiology 22: 155-162.##Bolhar-Nordenkampf, H. R., Critchley, Ch., Haumann, J., Ludlow, M. M., Postl, W. and Syme, A. J. 1994. Can chlorophyll fluorescence and P700 changes detect environmental stress?In: Struik, P.C., Vredenberg, W.J., Renkema, J.A. and Parlevliet, J.E. (Eds.). Plant production on the threshold of a new century. Developments in plant and soil sciences (DPSS), Vol. 61. Springer. pp: 295-302.##Burgos, A. Szymanski, J., Seiwert, B., Degenkolbe, T., Hannah, M. A.,Giavalisco, P. and  Willmitzer, L. 2011. Analysis of short-term changes in the Arabidopsis thaliana glycerolipidome in response to temperature and light. The Plant Journal66(4): 656-668.##Chen, Z. J. 2013. Genomic and epigenetic insights into the molecular bases of heterosis. Nature Reviews Genetics 14: 471-482.##Cross, H. Z. and Zuber, M. S. 1972. Prediction of flowering dates in maize based on different methods of estimating thermal units. Agronomy Journal 64: 351-355.##Cutforth, H. W. Shaykewich, C. F. and Cho, C. M. 1986. Effect of soil,water and temperature on corn(Zea maysL.)root growth during emergence.CanadianJournal of SoilScience 66(1):51-58.##Demidchik, V., Straltsova, D., Medvedev, S. S., Pozhvanov, G. A., Sokolik, A. and Yurin, V. 2014. Stress-induced electrolyte leakage: The role of K+-permeable channels and involvement in programmed cell death and metabolic adjustment.Journal of Experimental Botany65( 5):1259-1270.##Dillard, C. J. and German, J. B. 2000. Phytochemicals: Nutraceuticals and human health. Journal of Science Food Agriculture 80:1744-1756.##Fehr, W. R. 1993. Principles of cultivar development. Vol I. Theory and technique. Macmillan Publication Co., USA.##Flint-Garcia, S. A., Buckler, E. S., Tiffin, P., Ersoz, E. and Springer, N. M. 2009. Heterosis is prevalent for multiple traits in diverse maize germplasm. PLoS ONE 4(10): e7433.##Fracheboud, Y., Haldimann, P., Leipner, J. and Stamp, P. 1999. Chlorophyll fluorescence as a selection tool for cold tolerance of photosynthesis in maize (Zea mays L.). Journal of Experimental Botany 50: 1533-1540.##Frascaroli, E. and Landi, P. 2016. Cold tolerance in field conditions, its inheritance, agronomic performance and genetic structure of maize lines divergently selected for germination at low temperature. Euphytica 209:771-788.##Ghosh, P. K., Bandyopadhyay, A., Manna, K. K., Mandal, M. C., Misra, K. G. andHati, A. K. 2004. Comprative effectiveness of cattle manure, poultry manure, phosphocompost and fertilizer-NPK on three cropping system in vertisols of semi-arid tropics. Dry matter yield, nodulation, chlorophyll content and enzyme activity. Bioresource Technology95: 85-93.##Guo, M. and Rafalski, J. A. 2013. Gene expression and heterosis in maize hybrids. In: Chen, Z. J. and Birchler, J. A. (Eds.). Polyploid and Hybrid Genomics. John Wiley and Sons, Inc. pp: 59-84.##Guo, Z., Lu, S. and Zhong, Q. 2006. Differential responses of antioxidative system to chilling and droughtinfour ricecultivarsdifferinginsensitivity.Plant Physiology and Biochemistry44:828-836.##Hallauer, A. R. and Miranda, J. B. 1981. Quantitative genetics in maize breeding. Iowa State University Press. Ames. IA, USA.##Hasani, Z., Pirdashti, H., Yaghoubian, Y. and Zaman Nouri, M. 2014. Application of chlorophyll fluorescence technique to evaluate the tolerance of rice (Oryza sativa L.) genotypes to cold temperature and water stresses. Journal of Cell and Tissue 5(2): 195-206. (In Persian with English Abstract).##Hedayatkhah, T., Dehdari, M. and Amiri Fahliyani, R. 2016. Study of chilling tolerance in rice cultivars at seedling stage using morphological and physiological characteristics.Journal of Production and Processing 6 (20): 1-12. (In Persian with English Abstract).##Herzog, H. and Olszewski, A. 1998. A rapid method for measuring freezing resistance in crop plants. Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science 181(2): 71-79.##Hochholdinger, F. and Hoecker, N. 2007. Towards the molecular basis of heterosis. Trends in Plant Science 12(9): 427-432 .##Ilker, R., Breidenbach, R. W. and Lyons, J. M. 1979. Sequence of ultrastructural changes in tomatocotyledons during short periods of chilling. In: Lyones, J. (Ed.). Low temperature stress in crop plants. Academic Press, New York.pp: 97-114.##Iqbal, M., Khan, K., Rahman, H.,  Khalil, I. H., Sher, H. and Bakht, J. 2010. Heterosis for morphological traits in subtropical maize (Zea MaysL.). Maydica55: 41-48.##Jamali, B. 2011. Cultivation of canola. Available online at: http://www.agri-borkhar.ir/portals/5/zerat-kolza.doc.##Janowiak, F., Adamczyk, J. and Krolikowski, Z. 2000. Differentiation of chilling tolerance among polish maize lines as measured by chlorophyll fluorescence method. Proceeding of the 3th International Congress of Ecophysiological Aspects of Plant Responses to Stress Factors. Krakow.##Kiet, H. V., Nose, A. and Zheng, S. H. 2016. Effect of cold stress on root growth, accumulation of soluble proteins and free amino acids of sheath blight-resistant rice genotype 32R. Tropical Agriculture and Development 60(3): 191-194.##Li, B., Tian, X. L., Wang, G. W., Pan, F. and Li, Z. H. 2008. Heterosis of root growth in maize (Zea mays L.) seedlings under water stress. Acta Agronomica Sinica 34: 662-668.##Lichtenthaler, H. K. and Buschmann, C. 2001. Current protocols in food analytical chemistry.F4.3.1-F4.3.8. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.##Murai-Hatano, M., Kuwagata, T., Sakurai, J., Nonami, H., Ahamed, A., Nagasuga, K., Matsunami, T., Fukushi, K., Maeshima, M. and Okada, M. 2008. Effect of low root temperature on hydraulic conductivity of rice plants and the possible role of aquaporins. Plant Cell Physiology 49: 1294-1305.##Murphy, J. B. and Noland, T. L. 1982. Temperature effects on seed imbibition and leakage mediated by viscosity and membranes. Plant Physiology69: 428-431.##Naveed, S., Aslam, M., Maqbool, M. A., Bano, S., Zaman, Q.U. and Ahmad, R. M. 2014. Physiology of high temperature stress tolerance at reproductive stages in maize. Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences 24(4): 1141-1145.##Nezami, A., Hajmohammadnia Ghalibaf, K. and Kamandi, A. 2010. Evaluation of freezing tolerance of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) cultivars under controlled conditions. Environmental Stress in Crop Sciences 3(2): 177-187. (In Persian with English Abstract).##Nezami, A., Khazaee, H. R., Hosseinpanahi, F. and Fazeli Kakhki, S. F. 2013. Assessment of freezing tolerance in lentil genotypes (Lensculinaris) by electrolyte leakage index. Iranian Journal of Field Crops Research 11(1): 23-50. (In Persian with English Abstract).##Nezami, A., Khozaee, H. R., Mehrabadi, H. R., Dashti, M., pour Amir, F. and  Ahmadi, M. 2015. Evaluation of tolerance of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) cultivars to freezing temperatures under controlled conditions. Iranian Journal of Field Crops Research13(1): 53-61. (In Persian with English Abstract).##Noblet, A., Leymarie, J. and Bailly, Ch. 2017. Chilling temperature remodels phospholipidome of Zea mays seeds during imbibition. Scientific Reports 7: 8886.##Paeizi, M. and Shariati, M. 2012. Effect of cold stress on PSII efficiency of dunaliella salina using chlorophyll fluorescence kinetics. Journal of Cell and Tissue 2 (4): 395-405. (In Persian with English Abstract).##Ranieri, A., Castagna, A., Pacini, J., Baldan, B., Sodi, A. M. and Soldatini, G. F. 2003. Early production and scavenging of hydrogen peroxide in the apoplast of sunflower plants exposed to ozone. Journal of Experimental Botany 54: 2529-2540.##Richner, W., Kiel, C. and Stamp, P. 1997. Is seedling root morphology predictive of seasonal accumulation of shoot dry matter in maize? Crop Science 37: 1237-1241.##Rodriguez, V. M., Butron, A., Rady, M. O. A., Soengas, P. and Revilla, P. 2014. Identification of quantitative trait loci involved in the response to cold stress in maize (Zea mays L.). Molecular Breeding 33:363-371.##Sack, L. and Holbrook, N. M. 2006. Leaf hydraulics. Annual Review ofPlant Biology 57: 361-381.##Steudle, E. 2001. The cohesion–tension mechanism and the acquisition of water by plant roots. Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology 52: 847-875.##Sassani, Sh., Tavakol Afshari, R. and Mahfouzi, S. 2013. Relationship of accumulation of some metabolites with physiological and biochemical mechanisms of cold tolerance and freezing in bread wheat.Iranian Journal of Crop Sciences 44(2): 327-345. (In Persian with English Abstract).##Sayed, O. H. 2003. Chlorophyll fluorescence as a tool in cereal crop research. Photosyntetica 41(3): 321-330.##Shiri, M. and Choukan, R. 2017. Evaluation of maize hybrids tolerance to drought stress. Journal of Crop Breeding 9(21): 89-99. (In Persian with English Abstract).##Sinha, S. K. and Khanna, R. 1975. Physiological, biochemical, and genetic basis of heterosis. Advances in Agronomy 27: 123-174.##Siosemardeh, A., Mohammadi, Kh., Roohi, E., Aghaalikhani, M. and Mokhtasi Bidgoli, A. 2014. Physiological responses of different wheat genotypes to cold stress.Electronic Journal of Crop Production2 (4): 93-112.(In Persian with English Abstract).##Strauss, A. J., Kruger, G. H. J., Strasser, R. J. and Van Heerden, P. D. R. 2006. Ranking of dark chilling tolerance in soybean genotypes probed by the chlorophyll a fluorescence transient O-J-I-P. Environmental and Experimental Botany56: 147-157.##Stupar, R. M., Gardiner, J. M., Oldre, A.G., Haun, W. J., Chandler, V. L. and Springer, N. M. 2008. Gene expression analyses in maize inbreds and hybrids with varying levels of heterosis. BMC Plant Biology 8: 33.##Talebi, R., Ensafi, M. H., Baghebani, N., Karami, E. and Mohammadi, K. 2013. Physiological responses of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) genotypes to drought stress. Environmental and Experimental Biology 11: 9-15.##Tarighaleslami, M., Kafi, M., Nezami, A. and Zarghami, R. 2016. Effects of chilling stress on physiological and biochemical traits of three-hybrid corn (Zea mays L.) in seedling stage. Journal of Plant Researches29(3): 540-552. (In Persian with English Abstract).##Tollenaar, M., Ahmadzadeh, A. and Lee, E. A. 2004. Physiological basis of heterosis for grain yield in maize. Crop Science4:2086-094.##Tollenaar, M. and Lee, E. A. 2002. Yield potential, yield stability andstress tolerance in maize. Field Crops Research 75:161-169.##Upchurch, R. G. 2008. Fatty acid unsaturation, mobilization, and regulation in the response of plants to stress. Biotechnology Letters 30: 967-977.##Wynne, J. C., Emery, D. A. and Rice, P. W. 1970. Combining ability estimation in Arachis hypogea L. II. Field performance of F1 hybrids. Crop Science10: 713-715.##Xu, R. G., Lv, C., Zhu, L., Zhou, M. X. and Mo, H. D. 2004. Studies on the heterosis of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) I. Superiority of hybrid F1 from mid-parent or over better-parent. Acta Agronomica Sinica 30(7):668-674.##Yamori, W., Noguchi, K., Hikosaka, K. and Terashima, I. 2010. Phenotypic plasticity in photosynthetic temperature acclimationamong crop species with different cold tolerances. Plant Physiology 152: 388-399.##Ying, J., Lee, E. A. and Tollenaar, M. 2002. Response of leaf photosynthesis during the grain filling period of maize to duration of cold exposure, acclimation, and incident PPFD. Crop Science42: 1164-1172.##Zaidi, P. H., Yadav, M., Maniselvan, P. Khan, R. Shadakshari, T.V. Singh, R. P. and Pal, D. 2010. Morpho-physiological traits associated with coldstress tolerance in tropical maize (Zea mays L.). Maydica55: 201-208.##Zhang, B. H., Pan, X. P., Wang, Q. L., Cobb, G. P. and Anderson, T. A. 2005. Identification and characterization of new plant micro-RNAs using EST analysis. Cell Research 15(5):336-360.##Zheng, G., Tian, B., Zhang, F., Tao, F. and Li, W. 2011. Plant adaptation to frequent alterations between high and low temperatures: remodeling of membrane lipids and maintenance of unsaturation levels. Plant, Cell and Environment34: 1431-1442.##Zhu, J., Dong, C. H. and Zhu, J. K. 2007. Interplay between cold-responsive gene regulation, metabolism and RNA processing during plant cold acclimation.Current Opinion in Plant Biology 10(3): 290-295.