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Acta Agronomica Sinica ›› 2022, Vol. 48 ›› Issue (10): 2560-2566.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1006.2022.13054

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• TILLAGE & CULTIVATION · PHYSIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Milk line changes of maize grain and the relationship with grain filling and drying process

LI Hong-Yan1(), ZHOU Lin-Li2, GAO Shang1, XUE Jun1, MING Bo1,*(), ZHAO Ru-Lang3, WANG Ke-Ru1, XIE Rui-Zhi1, HOU Peng1, WANG Yong-Hong3, LI Shao-Kun1,*()   

  1. 1Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences / Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology and Ecology, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing 100081, China
    2Key Laboratory of Oasis Eco-agriculture, Xinjiang Production and Construction Group, College of Agronomy, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832000, Xinjiang, China
    3Crop Research Institute of Ningxia Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Yinchuan 750105, Ningxia, China
  • Received:2021-09-13 Accepted:2022-02-25 Online:2022-10-12 Published:2022-04-01
  • Contact: MING Bo,LI Shao-Kun E-mail:2052083213@qq.com;mingbo@caas.com;lishaokun@caas.cn
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China(31971849);China Agriculture Research System of MOF and MARA (Maize, CARS-02);Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program(CAAS-ZDRW202004)

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Abstract:

In order to clarify the relationship between milk line proportion and grain moisture content and grain filling process and provide references for the decision-making of maize harvest period, a field observational experiment was conducted with 9 spring-sown maize varieties in 2017 and 2018 at Yongning County, Yinchuan City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. In this study, the cross-sectional images, grain moisture content, and 100-grain dry weight were measured continuously on the central part of the ear within 20 to 80 days after silking. An image-assisted software tool was designed to measure the milk line proportion of maize grains, accurately obtaining the information of milk line proportion in different varieties or different growth stages. Regression analysis showed that there were slight differences in the variation of milk line proportion, grain moisture content, and filling process between varieties and inter-years, which generally conformed to the same variation regulations. There was a significant linear relationship between milk line proportion and grain moisture content, and the regression equation was y= -0.2572x+ 52.482. The relationship between milk line proportion and grain filling process was fitted to Richards curve significantly, and the regression equation was y = 99.65/[1+exp(2.45-0.07x)](1?3.70). The changes of milk line proportion were closely related to grain moisture content and grain filling process within a certain range, which can be used as one of the field evaluation indicators for different kinds of maize harvest.

Key words: maize, milk line proportion, grain drying, grain filling

Table 1

Experimental maize varieties"

年份
Year		 品种
Variety		 播种期
Sowing date (month/day)		 吐丝期
Silking date (month/day)		 授粉日期
Pollination date (month/day)		 生育期
Growth period (d)
2017 DH786 4/20 7/2 7/2 119
DH769 4/20 7/5 7/5 137
M751 4/20 7/7 7/9 142
LD575 4/20 7/7 7/11 139
LD586 4/20 7/7 7/10 145
年份
Year		 品种
Variety		 播种期
Sowing date (month/day)		 吐丝期
Silking date (month/day)		 授粉日期
Pollination date (month/day)		 生育期
Growth period (d)
2018 DH786 4/28 7/1 7/1 116
DH769 4/28 7/8 7/8 122
M751 4/28 7/11 7/13 138
LD575 4/28 7/11 7/14 130
LD586 4/28 7/14 7/16 136
ZD958 4/28 7/13 7/15 137
XY335 4/28 7/9 7/12 135
DK517 4/28 7/11 7/14 135
KX9384 4/28 7/1 7/1 119

Fig. 1

Image of maize grain milk line collection"

Fig. 2

Schematic diagram of image-assisted determination method for milk line proportion"

Fig. 3

Changes of milk line proportion after silking of different maize varieties DH786: Denghai 786; DH769: Denghai 769; LD575: Liaodan 575; LD586: Liaodan 586; ZD958: Zhengdan 958; XY335: Xianyu 335; DK517: Dika 517."

Fig. 4

Relationship between moisture content and milk line proportion among maize varieties Abbreviations are the same as those given in Fig. 3."

Table 2

Duration of grain milk line of different maize varieties (d)"

年份
Year		 品种
Variety		 授粉后天数Days after pollination 持续天数
Days of duration
乳线出现
Appearance of milk line		 乳线消失
Disappearance of milk line
2017 DH769 27 75 48
DH786 28 60 33
M751 29 78 49
LD575 29 75 46
LD586 30 78 48
2018 DH769 29 67 38
DH786 30 61 31
M751 21 73 52
LD575 23 64 41
LD586 26 77 51
ZD958 28 71 42
XY335 21 72 51
DK517 30 72 42
KX9384 28 67 39

Fig. 5

Change of hundred-grain weight among maize varieties Abbreviations are the same as those given in Fig. 3."

Table 3

Fitting equation for grain filling process"

品种
Variety		 方程参数Equation parameters R2
a b c
ZD958 32.08 23.24 0.11 0.987**
XY335 35.27 29.46 0.12 0.993**
LD586 32.94 20.52 0.10 0.990**
DK517 29.34 24.76 0.11 0.986**
M751 34.65 19.64 0.10 0.970**
KX9384 31.20 256.23 0.16 0.998**
DH769 34.40 314.65 0.18 0.992**
LD575 31.03 349.49 0.19 0.984**
DH786 31.12 29.91 0.12 0.981**

Fig. 6

Relationship between milk line proportion and grain filling process of different maize varieties Abbreviations are the same as those given in Fig. 3."

Table 4

Relationship between milk line proportion and grain moisture content and grain filling process (%)"

乳线比例
Milk line
proportion		 籽粒含水率
Grain moisture content		 灌浆进程
Grain filling
process
0 52.48 50.26
10 49.91 58.97
20 47.34 68.17
30 44.77 77.11
40 42.20 84.82
50 39.62 90.64
60 37.05 94.52
70 34.48 96.85
80 31.91 98.16
90 29.34 98.87
100 26.77 99.25
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