LEAFY REDUCED-STATURE MAIZE FOR SHORT-SEASON ENVIRONMENTS - MORPHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF INBRED LINES

Development of maize (Zea mays L.) types that produce leaf area rapidl y and finish vegetative development quickly would increase production of maize in mid-to short-season areas. The Leafy (Lfy1) and reduced-st ature (rd1) traits each make contributions to this end. However, these two traits have not previously been combined. Our objective was to ev aluate the morphological aspects of non-leafy normal-stature (NLNS), l eafy reduced-stature (LRS), non-leafy reduced-stature (NLRS), and leaf y normal-stature (LNS) maize inbreds. Two traits, Lfy1 and rd1, were i ncorporated into a series of inbreds, resulting in a range of canopy a rchitectures. Twelve variables were recorded for each of 30 inbreds ov er three years. The 12 variables were: seed emergence, above-ear leaf number, below-ear leaf number, dead leaf number at tasselling, live le af number at tasselling, total leaf number, above-ear leaf area, ear l eaf length, ear leaf width, ear height, internode length, and plant he ight. Inbreds containing the Lfy1 trait had more above-ear leaf area, above-ear leaf number, dead leaf number at tasselling, total leaf numb er and number of live leaves at tasselling than non-leafy inbred lines . Below-ear leaf number was not different among LRS, LNS, and NLNS inb red lines. LRS and NLRS inbred lines were also not different for below -ear leaf number. Plant height, ear height, and ear leaf length and wi dth were higher in normal-stature than reduced-stature plants. The pro portion of the seeds which emerged was higher for LRS inbreds than the other trait groups.