TITLE:
Chlorophyll Concentration and Morphological Diversity in Corn Lines at Different Vegetative Stages
AUTHORS:
Mariano Mendoza Elos, Gilberto Rodríguez Pérez, Francisco Cervantes Ortíz, Luis Patricio Guevara Acevedo, Enrique Andrio Enríquez, Ma. Del Carmen Ojeda Zacarías, Isabel Presa Figuereo, Sergio Alfredo Rodríguez Herrera, José Antonio Rangel Lucio, José Guadalupe Rivera Reyes
KEYWORDS:
Chlorophyll Content, Phenological Stages, Clusters and Corn Lines
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.7 No.7,
May
18,
2016
ABSTRACT: The objective of this
study was to assess the chlorophyll content of corn lines at different vegetative
stages and the diversity between them. The study was conducted in the
experimental field of the Roque Institute of Technology (ITR) located in Roque,
Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico. We used 32 corn lines from CIMMYT and four lines
from the breeding program of the ITR. The evaluation was conducted in the
spring-summer cycle of 2014 at two planting dates. We used a completely randomized
block design with three replications. The experimental unit consisted of two
rows of five linear meters with a distance of 0.75 meters between rows.
Chlorophyll was measured at six different stages: V6, VT, R3, R4, R5 and MF.
The agronomic variables recorded were: PH, CH, LAC, LBC, FF, MF, PM, CC, CL,
DC, RC, KR and GY. The results of the analysis of variance showed significant
differences between lines, dates and their interaction. On average, 18 lines
were found with chlorophyll concentrations above 51 SPAD units in the two
environments. This indicated that these materials had a high potential for
field performance. Using cluster analysis UPGMA method, we identified seven
groups for chlorophyll and eight groups for agronomic characteristics for a breeding program. The groups were associated to the
homogeneous characteristics of each variable.