Author(s)

Mariano Mendoza Elos¹, Gilberto Rodríguez Pérez^1*, Francisco Cervantes Ortíz¹, Luis Patricio Guevara Acevedo¹, Enrique Andrio Enríquez¹, Ma. Del Carmen Ojeda Zacarías², Isabel Presa Figuereo¹, Sergio Alfredo Rodríguez Herrera³, José Antonio Rangel Lucio¹, José Guadalupe Rivera Reyes¹

¹Division of Graduate Studies and Research, Institute Technologic of Roque, Guanajuato, Mexico.
²University Autonomous Agrarian of Nuevo León, Monterrey, México.
³University Autonomous Agrarian Antonio Narro, Saltillo, México.

The objective of this study was to assess the chlorophyll content of corn lines at different vegetative stages and the diversity between them. The study was conducted in the experimental field of the Roque Institute of Technology (ITR) located in Roque, Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico. We used 32 corn lines from CIMMYT and four lines from the breeding program of the ITR. The evaluation was conducted in the spring-summer cycle of 2014 at two planting dates. We used a completely randomized block design with three replications. The experimental unit consisted of two rows of five linear meters with a distance of 0.75 meters between rows. Chlorophyll was measured at six different stages: V6, VT, R3, R4, R5 and MF. The agronomic variables recorded were: PH, CH, LAC, LBC, FF, MF, PM, CC, CL, DC, RC, KR and GY. The results of the analysis of variance showed significant differences between lines, dates and their interaction. On average, 18 lines were found with chlorophyll concentrations above 51 SPAD units in the two environments. This indicated that these materials had a high potential for field performance. Using cluster analysis UPGMA method, we identified seven groups for chlorophyll and eight groups for agronomic characteristics for a breeding program. The groups were associated to the homogeneous characteristics of each variable.

Chlorophyll Content, Phenological Stages, Clusters and Corn Lines

Elos, M. , Pérez, G. , Ortíz, F. , Acevedo, L. , Enríquez, E. , Ojeda Zacarías, M. , Figuereo, I. , Herrera, S. , Rangel Lucio, J. and Rivera Reyes, J. (2016) Chlorophyll Concentration and Morphological Diversity in Corn Lines at Different Vegetative Stages. American Journal of Plant Sciences, 7, 1067-1076. doi: 10.4236/ajps.2016.77102.