Enhancing seed and cob characteristics in reciprocal crosses between purple waxy corn and sweet corn through plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria application

Abstract

Maize is one of the major cereal crops. Different high yielding as well as hybrid varieties have been growing for higher maize production. Various fertilizers have also been used to increase the maize yield. But yield target is not achievable always and the fertilizers had detrimental effects on soil properties also. For sustainable maize production, we conducted a combined study of reciprocal cross and application of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). In this study, we examine the traits of seeds and cobs resulting from reciprocal crossings between Purple Waxy Corn (PWC) and Sweet Corn (SC) that were subjected to treatment with PGPR. The outcomes of reciprocal crossings on the traits of seeds and cobs exhibited a distinctiveness that diverged from that of their respective progenitors. The seeds and cobs from reciprocal crosses exhibited novel variation in their characteristics. If the male parent is PWC, the F1 seeds exhibit alterations in both color and type on a single cob, so modifying the traits of the seeds in a direction aligns with those of the female parent. If the male parent is SC (♂), then F1 exhibits a phenotypic alteration in seed color, nugget color and seed type on a single cob which represents a distinctive trait variation between the two parents. An interaction between the application of PGPR, both in terms of timing and concentration and the kind of corn, was seen to affect the seed width, seed thickness and sugar content. The results of present study will be helpful for sustainable maize production.