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SEMINAL ROOT OF
MAIZE VARIETIES IN RELATION TO REDUCTION IN THE SUBSTRATE
MOISTURE CONTENT
ASAD SHAH1,
RABIA GOHAR1, S. KHALID2 AND MOHAMMAD AKMAL1*
Abstract:
To study the
different moisture regimes on root growth of maize varieties, this
experiment was conducted at Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic
Engineering (IBGE), Agricultural University, Peshawar Pakistan during
summer 2008. Four moisture treatments i.e. favorable (100%), moderate
(75%), low (50%) and very low (25%) were prepared with sand soil
mixtures of 8:1 (w/w). Ten varieties of maize comprising three hybrids
and seven synthetic were compared for the seminal root length and
elongation rates. Germinated grains were transplanted in glass boxes
(23x16x4 cm) filled with substrate having different moisture contents.
Grains were separated from the substrate using black cotton cloth to
avoid roots disappearance and/or penetration in substrate for elongation
rate measurements. Rate of the elongation was calculated by marking root
tips on the glass surface at each day on definite time intervals. The
results showed that a reduction in root length was common by decreasing
substrate moisture from favorable to any level. However, the decrease in
root length was moderate to stronger when substrate’s moisture contents
decreased form below 75%. Different varieties responded differently to
the reduction in soil moisture contents showing that potential did exist
in genotype for further improvement e.g. identification of marker genes
and its transferring to existing commercial varieties to adopt them
better in an environment when sowing was accomplished in hot summer
months in soils where loss of moisture was relatively high. Reduction in
substrate moisture has shown a decrease in root length which might has
an almost similar effect on seedling establishment in early development
phase and hence can accumulate in yield losses at maturity.
1Department of Agronomy, Agricultural University, Peshawar
2Department of Botany, GC University, Lahore
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