Abstract
The physiological quality is based on the genotype and may be accompanied since the first stages of selection through the study of genetic diversity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the parental genetic contribution in the seed physiological quality in corn intervarietal crossbreeds. The intervarietal crossbreeds were performed using landraces genotypes, open pollinated varieties and commercial hybrids. The seeds obtained from the crossbreed, their equivalents and parentals were evaluated regarding their water percentage, germination, germination speed rate, accelerated aging, field emergence and electrical conductivity. The seeds obtained in the crossbreed are viable and vivid with heterosis when compared with the parentals. The accelerated aging test was more effective for selecting the strongest genotypes. The canonical variables were useful to group the genotypes that presented similar physiological characteristics. The genotypes MPA 01 x Pixurum 05, MPA 01 x AS1565, MPA 01 x SJC5886, SJC5886 x Pixurum 05 and Fundacep 35 x SCS 154 Fortuna were the best crossbreeds regarding the production of better physiological quality seeds.
Highlights
The competitiveness in the seed sector has led the producing companies to invest and adopt higher quality standards for seeds
Due to the fact there are few researches that evaluate the genetic contribution in the physiological quality of corn seeds, and due to the great genetic diversity observed in landrace and open pollination varieties, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the genetic contribution of parentals in the physiological quality of seeds obtained by intervarietal crossbreed between landrace genotypes, open pollination varieties and corn hybrids
It is different from results obtained by Reis et al (2011), who observed a higher heterosis in the evaluation of 14 sweet corn genotypes, with variation of 4,39% and 15,62%
Summary
The competitiveness in the seed sector has led the producing companies to invest and adopt higher quality standards for seeds. The main effect expected regarding the genetic improvement is a productivity increase (Gomes et al, 2000); the heterosis basis for the seeds quality is an important factor. The seeds quality may be defined as the sum of genetic, physical, physiologic and sanitary attributes that affect the seed capacity to perform vital functions, being related to germination, vigor and longevity (Moterle et al, 2011). The contribution of genetic attributes to the seeds quality requires further studies. The physiological quality is based on the genotype, and may be accompanied from the first stages of selection, obtained with tests of viability and vigor during the genetic improvement process (Marcos-Filho, 1999). Despite the obvious effect of the environment over the seeds quality, the maximum quality potential, such as seedling germination, emergence and vigor, is genetically controlled (Prete and Guerra, 1999) and may be handled exploring the genetic variance of a species or lineages in the crossbreeding process (Gondim et al, 2006)
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