Inheritance of tolerance to flooded soils in maize

Maize could be an excellent option for crop rotation in flooded areas in southern Brazil. There are, however,few studies on the genetic basis of tolerance to flooding in maize. The objective of this study was to determine the inheritanceof this tolerance based on plant and root dry matter of young maize plants. Maize lines were crossed to form three populationsin the F1, F2, and backcross generations. Tolerance to flooding was assessed over two years in a greenhouse. The performanceof the generations showed the presence of heterosis. The variances in the segregating generations were higher than in the fixedgenerations throughout, indicating genetic variability for plant and root dry matter. The frequency distribution of F2 suggestedthat tolerance to flooding is controlled by many genes of complementary effect.