Agronomic characterization of tropical maize convertidas ao carater de qualidade de proteina

Maize inbred lines converted to the quality protein character were evaluated for grain yield and agronomic traits. The study was carried out in the Experimental Station Cotaxtla, Veracruz, Mexico, during the autumn/winter 2011/12 and spring-summer 2012 seasons. The experimental design was an alpha latice 16 x 8 with 128 treatments and two replications, with one-row plots 2.5m long, 80cm wide and a density of 62500 plants/ ha. During crop development, data were recorded about plant and ear height, days to tassel and silking, plant and ear aspect and sanity, ears with bad husk cover, ear rots, grain yield, grain texture and segregation of the opaque character in the grain. Throughout genotypes (G) and environments (E), the majority of traits except for ears with bad husk cover were significant. The analysis of variance combined in two evaluation environments, found statistical significance for G and E, for all traits, except for ears with bad husk cover. For interaction GxE significant differences for grain yield, days to pollen-shed and silking and lodging were found. The best inbred lines for grain yield and agronomic characteristics were: FAMV537 C-11-2, FAMV537C-1-1-1, FAMV537C-2-1-1, (D-539xCML144)F2x-D539R[C.sub.2]-1-1-4, (D-539xCML144)F2xD539R[C.sub.2]-1-1-2, (D-539xCML144)F2x D539RC2-1-1-1, (LT155xCML144) LT155RC2-1-1-9, (LT155xCML144) LT155R[C.sub.2]-2-1-1, (LT155xCML144)LT155R[C.sub.2]-2-2-3, (LT154xCML144)LT154R[C.sub.2]-5-1-2, (LT154xCML144)LT154R[C.sub.2]-5-1-1, (CABGxCML144) CABGR[C.sub.2]-1-1-6, (CABGxCML144) CAB GRCM-1-2, (CABGxCML144)CABGRC2-3-2-5, (VS536xV-537C)VS536RC2-1-3-1, (VS-536xV-537C)VS-536RC2-3-1-7, (VS536xV537C) and VS536RC2-1-2-7. All had grain yield >4t x [ha.sup.-1], from 3 to 44% more than the best normal line LT155 (4.1t x [ha.sup.-1]), used as control. Regarding protein quality, synthetics formed with representative lines of each group of converted lines registered 36-55% more lysine and 62-106% more tryptophan than the normal 'Tuxpeno' variety.