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Vertical‐Pull Resistance of Maize Inbreds and Their Testcrosses 1
Author(s) -
Penny L. H.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
crop science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.76
H-Index - 147
eISSN - 1435-0653
pISSN - 0011-183X
DOI - 10.2135/cropsci1981.0011183x002100020008x
Subject(s) - tassel , biology , zea mays , agronomy , poaceae , resistance (ecology)
Studies were conducted to determine the relationship between vertical root‐pull resistance of maize ( Zea mays L.) inbreds and that of their testcrosses with two inbred‐testers as an evaluation of the extent to which differences among inbreds can be transmitted to crosses of those inbreds. Thirty‐three inbreds and their testcrosses were evaluated at two stages of growth in four environments. Wide differences for pull resistance existed among the inbreds and were repeatable in different environments with minor interactions. The differences were present at the tassel stage of plant development and were most pronounced at the milk stage. Differences shown by the inbreds themselves were also expressed in their testcrosses but at a lower magnitude. Correlation coefficients calculated from combined data from the four environments for the inbreds vs. the two sets of testcrosses were 0.85 and 0.69 (significant at the 0.01 level of probability) at the tassel stage and 0.78 and 0.73 (significant at the 0.01 level of probability) at the milk stage. It is concluded that pull resistance differences among inbreds can be used to predict their performance in crosses.