%A SUN Qi, ZHANG Shi-Huang, HAO Zhuai-Fang, ZHANG De-Gui, CI Xiao-Ke, CHEN Chao-Hui, LI Xin-Hai, XIE Chuan-Xiao, WENG Jian-Feng, BAI Li, LI Ming-Shun %T Comparative Analysis of Seedling Drought Tolerance of Different Era Maize Varieties %0 Journal Article %D 2012 %J Acta Agronomica Sinica %R 10.3724/SP.J.1006.2012.00315 %P 315-321 %V 38 %N 02 %U {https://zwxb.chinacrops.org/CN/abstract/article_5032.shtml} %8 2012-02-12 %X Spring drought often occurs in Northern region, which affects the production of Maize. So seedling drought tolerance is an important factor to account for in Maize breeding. Thirty-five varieties included four OPVs (1950s), four double hybrids (1960s) and twenty-seven single hybrids (1970s–2000s). Seedling drought tolerance was evaluated in drought house. Biomass of seedling was investigated, including fresh weight and dry weight. Coefficient of seedling drought tolerance was calculated. The trend and response of the coefficient on era were analyzed. The hybrids were clustered based on the coefficient of seedling drought tolerance from 1970s. The result indicated that drought stress influenced biomass significantly. The seedling drought tolerance increased from 1950s to 1960s and declined from 1960s to 1970s and afterwards. The single hybrids after 1970s were clustered into three groups. Six hybrids were most tolerant to seedling drought including Ludan 50, Nongda 108, Qundan 105, Yedan 13, Yedan 4, and Zhengdan 2. Nongda 60, Nongda 3138, and Shendan 16 had the worst tolerance. Therefore, the next task of maize breeding is to strengthen drought stress pressure in selecting inbred lines, which will establish a foundation for breeding the hybrids tolerant to drought.