Combining ability estimates of sulfate uptake efficiency in maize

Plant root nutrient uptake efficiency may be expressed by the kinetic parameters, Vmax and Km, as well as by normal enzymatic reactions. These parameters are apparently useful indices of the level of adaptation of genotypes to the nutrient conditions in the soil. Moreover, sulfate uptake capacity has been considered a valuable index for selecting superior hybrid characterized by both high grain yield and efficiency in nutrient uptake. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to determine combining ability for sulfate uptake, in a diallel series of maize hybrids among five inbreds. Wide differences among the 20 single crosses were obtained for Vmax and Km. The general and specific combining ability mean squares were significant and important for each trait, indicating the presence of considerable amount of both additive and nonadditive gene effects in the control of sulfate uptake. In addition, maternal and nonmaternal components of F1 reciprocal variation showed sizeable effects on all the traits considered. A relatively high correlation was also detected between Vmax and Km. However, both traits displayed enough variation to suggest that simultaneous improvement of both Vmax and Km should be feasible. A further noteworthy finding in this study was the identification of one inbred line, which was the best overall parent for improving both affinity and velocity strategies of sulfate uptake.