Biological and Clinical Sciences Research Journal
ISSN: 2708-2261
www.bcsrj.com
DOI: https://doi.org/10.47264/bcsrj0101025
Biol. Clin.
Sci. Res. J., Volume, 2020: e025
Original Research
EVALUATION OF MAIZE SEEDLING TRAITS
UNDER SALT STRESS
NASEEM S, ALI Q, MALIK A
Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, The university of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan
Corresponding author: saim1692@gamil.com
Abstract
Maize
is an important cereal crop lies at third after wheat and rice in Pakistan. It
is very sensitive to salt, heat, drought, cold and heavy metal stresses. To evaluate
the effects of salt (NaCl) on maize plant we have conducted
a research experiment in the Green House of Institute of Molecular Biology and
Biotechnology, The University of Lahore, Lahore. We
select hybrid P1429, P5971 and P6103 of Maize to access the effect of different
concentrations of NaCl stress included control, 0.25Molar
NaCl, 0.5Molar NaCl, 0.75Molar
NaCl, and 1Molar NaCl
applications. The pots were filled with pure sand and seeds of each hybrid were
sown in each pot and were let to germinate. After 7 days of germination the
data was collected for leaf length, root length, shoot length and root/shoot length
ratio. The pots were then given the treatment and data of above mentioned
traits was recorded, the application of treatments and data recording were
repeated 4 times. The data recorded (4 times each after one week) was subjected
to pooled analysis of variance to find significant differences among hybrids
and treatments. The result of our study showed that there were significant
correlation among root length, shoot length and leaf length of seedlings, from
average performance of hybrid P6103 was better as compared with other two
hybrids under higher salt stress conditions. It was suggested from our study
that the hybrid P6103 may be used as salt tolerance hybrids for improving grain
and fodder yield of maize under salt stress condition.
Keywords:
maize,
salt stress, NaCl, root length, shoot length
Introduction
Maize
(Corn) belongs to the grass family and has been grown throughout the world. It
is an important cereal crop after wheat and rice. Among them the maize crop has
more ability in term of production per hectare. The increase in yield requires
a continuous increase in supply for improved and enhanced germplasm for
improving the fodder and grain yield and productivity of corn plant. The growing
area of corn has been decreasing through every year while very low expectation
of increasing area and production in coming future (Ali et al., 2013; Ashraf et al., 2020). Therefore,
there is an urgent requirement or need for vertical or continuous increase for
fodder and grain yield/hectare for insuring the household and livestock food
and fee security throughout the world (Boomsma
et al., 2009; Cakir, 2004). However, the
global warming changing, with a result for climatic change, causing a negative
effect on corn crop grain yield and productivity which is increasing the food
shortage and insecurity, although it has been noted that the current climatic effects
caused a change in the relation for maize has become inconclusive along with
the model dependent in corn growth, development, grain productivity and yield (Ali
et al., 2011; Buckler et al., 2009; Edreira and Otegui,
2012). It has been
found form various research works on climatic changing effects that the
increase in temperature and rainfall are interlinked with each other, the
increase in the temperature is also causing drought along with salt stress in
the temperate, subtropical and tropical regions of world, there is an average increase
in temperature up to 3-4°C till end of 21th century throughout the world and
South East Asia continent (Buckler
et al., 2009; Mupangwa et al.,
2007; Mustafa et al., 2013; Saif-ul-malook et
al., 2014).
Materials and
Methods
The
seeds of hybrid P1429, P5971 and P6103 were sown in pots. The base of the pots
were covered with soil and the rest was filled with sand in each plastic pot
about 8 to 10 seeds were sown in the sand at the depth of 3cm. the pots with
both given conditions were irrigated with tap water initially. Treatment was
given with different levels of NaCl (0.25Molar,
0.5Molar, 0.75Molar, 1Molar) and control. Data collection: the sampling of the
plants was done at the time of harvesting. After every 7 days of treatment, 2
plants from each pot were randomly harvested carefully and various factors such
as leaf length, root length, shoot length and root/shoot length ratio were
recorded. The data was analyzed for analysis of variance by using SPSS 23.1
version.
Result and
discussions
Leaf length
The
result we obtain from our finding and calculation showed that there was a significant
difference between the treatments of different concentration of NaCl stress (Table 1). The coefficient of variance was
lower which indicated that the results were reliable and accurate which may be used
for further analysis and may be used to select genotypes to improve yield and
increase their resistance against the stress. The average length of leaf was
recorded as 10.8867±0.5505cm under different treatments. The average
performance of all three hybrids was higher for control (13.6333±0.69602cm)
followed by 1Molar NaCl (12.00±0.57735cm). The
results from table 2 showed that the performance of hybrid P6103 was higher for
treatments of NaCl with higher concentrations
0.5Molar NaCl, 0.75Molar NaCl
and 1Molar NaCl as compared with other hybrids which
showed better performance on lower concentrations of salt stress. The average
leaf increase it indicated that the growth of leaf is good under the different
concentrations of NaCl treatments and it show that
they show tolerance against the different concentrations of stress and promote
growth and yield of plant (Ali et al., 2016; Ali et al., 2014; Chai et al., 2016; Edreira and Otegui,
2012).
Table 1.
Mean performance of maize genotypes for leaf length under different salt
concentrations
|
Treatments |
Mean |
Std. Deviation |
Std. Error |
95% Confidence Interval for Mean |
Minimum |
Maximum |
|
|
Lower limit |
Upper limit |
||||||
|
Control |
13.6333 |
1.20554 |
0.69602 |
10.6386 |
16.6281 |
12.50 |
14.90 |
|
0.25 Molar NaCl |
8.0000 |
1.32288 |
0.76376 |
4.7138 |
11.2862 |
6.50 |
9.00 |
|
0.5 Molar NaCl |
10.7333 |
1.12398 |
0.64893 |
7.9412 |
13.5255 |
9.50 |
11.70 |
|
0.75 Molar NaCl |
10.0667 |
0.40415 |
0.23333 |
9.0627 |
11.0706 |
9.70 |
10.50 |
|
1Molar NaCl |
12.0000 |
1.00000 |
0.57735 |
9.5159 |
14.4841 |
11.00 |
13.00 |
|
Grand Mean |
10.8867 |
0.5505 |
|||||
|
Coefficient of variation |
9.67 |
||||||
Table 1a.
Means for group in homogeneous subsets for leaf length
|
Treatments |
P1429 |
P5971 |
P6103 |
|
Control |
8.0000 |
||
|
0.25 Molar NaCl |
10.0667 |
10.0667 |
|
|
0.5 Molar NaCl |
10.7333 |
10.7333 |
10.7333 |
|
0.75 Molar NaCl |
12.0000 |
12.0000 |
|
|
1Molar NaCl |
13.6333 |
||
|
Sig. p<0.05 |
0.110 |
0.353 |
0.085 |
Shoot length
The
results have shown that there was significant difference between the treatments
of different concentration of NaCl stress (Table 2).
The coefficient of variance was lower it means the result were reliable and
accurate which indicated that we used it in further analysis for selection of
maize genotypes for yield and enhanced tolerance against salt stress. The
average length of shoot was recorded as 10.4800 ± 0.77393cm under different
treatments. The average performance of
all three hybrids was higher for control (12.00±0.57735cm) followed by 1Molar NaCl (14.6667±1.20185cm). The results from table 2a showed
that the performance of hybrid P6103 was higher for treatments of NaCl with higher concentrations 0.5Molar NaCl and 0.75Molar NaCl as
compared with other hybrids which showed better performance on lower
concentrations of salt stress. The average shoot increase it indicated that the
growth of leaf is good under the different concentrations of NaCl treatments and it show that they show tolerance
against the different concentrations of stress and promote growth and yield of
plant (Ali
et al., 2015; Ali et al., 2012; de Azevedo Neto et
al., 2006; Farre and Faci, 2006; Kanwal et al., 2019).
Table 2.
Mean performance of maize genotypes for shoot length under different salt
concentrations
|
Treatments |
Mean |
Std. Deviation |
Std. Error |
95% Confidence Interval for Mean |
Minimum |
Maximum |
|
|
Lower limit |
Upper limit |
||||||
|
Control |
12.0000 |
1.00000 |
0.57735 |
9.5159 |
14.4841 |
11.00 |
13.00 |
|
0.25 Molar NaCl |
6.8333 |
1.25831 |
0.72648 |
3.7075 |
9.9591 |
5.50 |
8.00 |
|
0.5 Molar NaCl |
8.5000 |
.50000 |
0.28868 |
7.2579 |
9.7421 |
8.00 |
9.00 |
|
0.75 Molar NaCl |
10.4000 |
.36056 |
0.20817 |
9.5043 |
11.2957 |
10.00 |
10.70 |
|
1Molar NaCl |
14.6667 |
2.08167 |
1.20185 |
9.4955 |
19.8378 |
13.00 |
17.00 |
|
Grand Mean |
10.480 |
0.77393 |
|||||
|
Coefficient of variation |
10.246 |
||||||
Table 2a.
Means for group in homogeneous subsets for shoot length
|
Treatments |
P1429 |
P5971 |
P6103 |
|
Control |
5.3000 |
||
|
0.25 Molar NaCl |
6.5000 |
6.5000 |
|
|
0.5 Molar NaCl |
7.5000 |
7.5000 |
|
|
0.75 Molar NaCl |
8.1667 |
||
|
1Molar NaCl |
|||
|
Sig. p<0.05 |
0.197 |
0.340 |
0.691 |
Root length
The
results showed significant differences between the treatments of different
concentration of NaCl stress. The average length of
root was recorded that (10.1533 ± 0.62821cm) under different treatments (Table
3). The average performance of all three hybrids was higher for control
(12.1667±0.56862cm) followed by 0.75Molar NaCl
(12.400±0.79373cm) and 1Molar NaCl (10.40±0.65574cm).
The results from table 3a showed that the performance of hybrid P6103 was
higher for treatments of NaCl with higher concentrations
0.75Molar NaCl and 1Molar NaCl
as compared with other hybrids which showed better performance on lower
concentrations of salt stress. The average root length increase it indicated
that the growth of root is good under the different concentrations of NaCl treatments and it show that they show tolerance
against the different concentrations of stress and promote growth and yield of
plant (Aaliya
et al., 2016; Abbas et al., 2016; Ali et al., 2017; Farooq et al., 2015; Karahara et al.,
2004; Sheng et al., 2008).
Table 3.
Mean performance of maize genotypes for root length under different salt
concentrations
|
Treatments |
Mean |
Std. Deviation |
Std. Error |
95% Confidence Interval for Mean |
Minimum |
Maximum |
|
|
Lower limit |
Upper limit |
||||||
|
Control |
9.8000 |
0.40000 |
0.23094 |
8.8063 |
10.7937 |
9.40 |
10.20 |
|
0.25 Molar NaCl |
6.0000 |
0.30000 |
0.17321 |
5.2548 |
6.7452 |
5.70 |
6.30 |
|
0.5 Molar NaCl |
12.1667 |
0.56862 |
0.32830 |
10.7541 |
13.5792 |
11.70 |
12.80 |
|
0.75 Molar NaCl |
12.4000 |
0.79373 |
0.45826 |
10.4283 |
14.3717 |
11.50 |
13.00 |
|
1Molar NaCl |
10.4000 |
0.65574 |
0.37859 |
8.7710 |
12.0290 |
9.70 |
11.00 |
|
Grand Mean |
10.1533 |
0.62821 |
|||||
|
Coefficient of variation |
9.973 |
||||||
Table 3a.
Means for group in homogeneous subsets for root length
|
Treatments |
P1429 |
P5971 |
P6103 |
|
Control |
6.0000 |
||
|
0.25 Molar NaCl |
9.8000 |
||
|
0.5 Molar NaCl |
10.4000 |
||
|
0.75 Molar NaCl |
12.1667 |
||
|
1Molar NaCl |
12.4000 |
||
|
Sig. p<0.05 |
1.000 |
0.795 |
0.992 |
Root/shoot
length ratio
The
result showed significant differences between the treatments of different
concentration of NaCl stress (Table 4). The
coefficient of variance is lower it means the result is reliable and accurate
it indicate that we used it in future to improve their yield and increase their
resistance against the stress. The average dry shoot weight was recorded that
(0.6273 ± 0.06500) under different treatments. The average root/shoot length
ratio increased which indicated that the growth of leaf, roots and shoot was
good under the different concentrations of NaCl
treatments which showed tolerance against the different concentrations of
stress and promote growth and yield of maize plant. The average performance of
hybrid P6103 was better under the treatments of .25Molar NaCl,
0.5Molar NaCl and 1Molar NaCl
concentration as compared with other maize hybrids. The different comparison of
maize hybrids show that the root/shoot length ratio of seedlings was lower
under 0.25Molar NaCl is (0.2800) followed by 0.5Molar
NaCl (0.4567), control (0.7000). 0.75M NaCl (0.8000) while highest under 1Molar NaCl (0.9000) concentration. The result indicated that the
effect of various salt concentrations affected the plants but if the stress
concentration is lower than the growth of leaves is higher it means the
concentrations effect the growth but improving some traits it can provide more tolerance
in future (Mazhar
et al., 2020; Shu and Liu, 2001; Tahir et al., 2020; Zubair et al., 2016).
Table 4.
Mean performance of maize genotypes for root/shoot length ratio under different
salt concentrations
|
Treatments |
Mean |
Std. Deviation |
Std. Error |
95% Confidence Interval for Mean |
Minimum |
Maximum |
|
|
Lower limit |
Upper limit |
||||||
|
Control |
0.7000 |
0.10000 |
0.05774 |
0.4516 |
0.9484 |
0.60 |
0.80 |
|
0.25 Molar NaCl |
0.2800 |
0.07211 |
0.04163 |
0.1009 |
0.4591 |
0.20 |
0.34 |
|
0.5 Molar NaCl |
0.4567 |
0.14012 |
0.08090 |
0.1086 |
0.8047 |
0.30 |
0.57 |
|
0.75 Molar NaCl |
0.8000 |
0.10000 |
0.05774 |
0.5516 |
1.0484 |
0.70 |
0.90 |
|
1Molar NaCl |
0.9000 |
0.10000 |
0.05774 |
0.6516 |
1.1484 |
0.80 |
1.00 |
|
Grand Mean |
0.6273 |
0.06500 |
|||||
|
Coefficient of variation |
10.103 |
||||||
Table 4a.
Means for group in homogeneous subsets for root/shoot length ratio
|
Treatments |
P1429 |
P5971 |
P6103 |
|
Control |
0.2800 |
||
|
0.25 Molar NaCl |
0.4567 |
0.4567 |
|
|
0.5 Molar NaCl |
0.7000 |
0.7000 |
|
|
0.75 Molar NaCl |
0.8000 |
||
|
1Molar NaCl |
0.9000 |
||
|
Sig. p<0.05 |
0.422 |
0.167 |
0.312 |
The
results from table 5 indicated that there was positive and significant
correlation among all of the studied traits. Root length and shoot length
showed strong and significant correlation which indicated that the selection of
maize genotypes for salt stress tolerance may be helpful to improve grain and
fodder yield of maize under slat stress conditions.
Table
5. Pooled
correlation among different traits of maize under drought stress conditions
|
Traits |
Shoot length |
Root length |
Leaf length |
|
Root length |
0.8019* |
|
|
|
Leaf length |
0.6701* |
0.2307 |
|
|
Root/shoot length ratio |
0.4503* |
-0.2250 |
0.4914* |
*
=Significant at 5% probability level
Conflict of
interest
The
authors declared absence of any type of conflict of interest in manuscript
publication
References