Adaptation assessment of drought tolerance in maize populations from the Sahara in both shores of the Mediterranean Sea

Oula Maafi,Lorena Álvarez-Iglesias,Rosa Ana Malvar,Abderahmane Djemel,Pedro Revilla

doi:10.1007/s10681-021-02902-z

Oula Maafi, Lorena Álvarez-Iglesias + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-021-02902-z

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Abstract

Drought is the main stress for agriculture, and maize (Zea mays L.) germplasm from the Sahara has been identified as potential source of drought tolerance; however, information about adaptation of semitropical maize germplasm from the Sahara to temperate areas has not been reported. Our objective was assessing the adaptation of maize germplasm from Saharan oases as sources of drought tolerance for improving yield and biomass production under drought conditions in temperate environments. A collection of maize populations from Saharan oases was evaluated under drought and control conditions in Spain and Algeria. Algerian populations were significantly different under drought for most traits, and the significant genotype × environment interactions indicated that drought tolerance is genotype-dependent, but tolerance differences among genotypes change across environments. Based on yield, the Algerian maize populations PI527474, PI527478, PI527472, PI527467, PI527470, and PI527473 would be appropriate sources of drought tolerance for temperate environments. Concerning biomass production, the most interesting populations were PI527467, PI542685, PI527478, and PI527472. These Saharan populations could provide favorable alleles for drought tolerance for temperate breeding programs, and could also be used for studying mechanisms and genetic regulation of drought tolerance.

Highlights

Drought is the main challenge for maize production worldwide (Rojas et al 2011; Fisher et al 2015), and causes yield losses of around 20 % (Chen et al 2012)
Maize populations from the Algerian Sahara were evaluated under water stress to identify populations that were adapted to both shores of the Mediterranean Sea and, could be used as potential sources of drought tolerance in temperate breeding programs
We found large genetic diversity within this group of populations, as well as significant genotype 9 environment interactions, as expected, given that these populations have a large diversity in geographical adaptation

Summary

Introduction

Drought is the main challenge for maize production worldwide (Rojas et al 2011; Fisher et al 2015), and causes yield losses of around 20 % (Chen et al 2012). Drought is expected to worsen with climate change (Betran et al 2003; Witt et al 2012). Identification of sources of drought tolerance is of paramount importance for designing plant breeding programs for improving drought tolerance. The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has evaluated maize accessions from tropical areas (Flint-Garcia et al 2005; Chen et al 2012). Several authors have evaluated temperate populations for drought tolerance in Mediterranean areas with limited success (Djemel et al 2018; Gouesnard et al 2016; Hallauer et al 2010). A more promising strategy consist on incorporating maize populations from desserts into breeding programs under temperate conditions

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