Phenotypic and molecular confirmation of maize (Zea mays L.) genotypes for drought tolerance at seedling stage

Abiotic stresses such as drought is adversely affecting the crop yields as well as maize productivity. The core idea of this study was to screen and identify maize genotypes for drought tolerance through morphological and molecular characterization for Balochistan region. In-vitro experiment was carried out using four maize genotypes namely Azam, Jalal, Edhi and Pahari that were investigated for drought stress tolerance at seedling stage. Completely randomized design (CRD) was used for current study. Maize seedlings were grown in growth chamber and after two-weeks of drought stress, samples were collected at different time periods. The morphological data showed that the root architecture of Jalal was significantly different from the remaining studied genotypes. These results were further strengthened and supported by the molecular analysis. For wet lab experiment, the DNA was extracted by Plant Mini Kit method and the presence/absence of drought tolerant gene was confirmed through the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). The specifically designed primers for candidate orthologues were used to obtain the targeted PCR products. Furthermore, the results of PCR were confirmed through gel electrophoresis. The results of inter simple sequence repeats (ISSR) markers showed that only ISSR-838 was attached on Jalal while remaining genotypes did not showed any amplification of the products, that mean the Jalal genotype is more diverse from the other genotypes for drought stress tolerance. The obtained results of this study will be further utilized for the development of drought resistant maize variety and also used in other future breeding programs of Balochistan.