Abstract
BACKGROUND: Drought is a major abiotic stress and a global threat to sustainable agriculture, severely constraining maize (Zea mays L.) productivity. It is estimated that drought stress can cause up to 15-20% grain yield losses in maize worldwide. Understanding the morpho-physiological and biochemical responses of different maize cultivars under drought conditions is essential for developing drought-tolerant varieties. METHODS: This study investigated the impact of drought stress on two maize cultivars, Haq Nawaz (drought-sensitive) and CIMMYT PAK (drought-tolerant), at three developmental stages: seedling, flowering, and grain filling. Morphological parameters (plant height, leaf length), physiological traits (chlorophyll a and b, proline, membrane stability index, soluble sugars), and biochemical components (nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K)) were analyzed under well-watered and drought-stressed conditions using standard protocols. RESULTS: Drought stress significantly reduced plant height, leaf length, and chlorophyll content at all growth stages, with the greatest reduction observed during grain filling. Under drought, chlorophyll a and b were markedly affected, particularly in the sensitive cultivar. Proline, membrane stability index, soluble sugars, and potassium levels increased by 23.34%, 2.67%, 18.24%, and 5.72% in CIMMYT PAK, and by 24.09%, 9.05%, 22.97%, and 6.77% in Haq Nawaz, respectively. Conversely, nitrogen and phosphorus contents decreased by 5.88% and 6.19% in CIMMYT PAK, and by 6.29% and 19.34% in Haq Nawaz, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrate that drought stress negatively affects maize growth and metabolism, with more pronounced impacts on the sensitive cultivar. The higher accumulation of osmolytes (proline and soluble sugars) and better maintenance of K⁺ content in CIMMYT PAK indicate its superior adaptive mechanisms to drought-induced oxidative stress. These findings highlight the importance of screening drought-responsive morpho-physiological and biochemical traits to identify tolerant genotypes. The insights gained could support breeding programs aimed at enhancing drought tolerance in maize grown under water-limited environments.
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Claims 17
Claim · model-written summary
Drought reduced plant height, leaf length and chlorophyll content of maize at all growth stages.
- Organ / stage
- all growth stagese1
- Treatment
- Drought stresse1
- Outcome
- plant height, leaf length, and chlorophyll contente1
- Direction
- reducede1
- Comparator
- well-waterede2
Zea maysOrganisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“responses of maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars to drought stress”
e1“Drought stress significantly reduced plant height, leaf length, and chlorophyll content at all growth stages”
e2“under well-watered and drought-stressed conditions”
Claim · model-written summary
The greatest drought-induced reduction in maize occurred during grain filling.
- Organ / stage
- grain fillinge3
- Treatment
- Drought stresse1
- Outcome
- reductione3
- Direction
- greatest reductione3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“responses of maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars to drought stress”
e1“Drought stress significantly reduced plant height, leaf length, and chlorophyll content at all growth stages”
e3“with the greatest reduction observed during grain filling”
Claim · model-written summary
Under drought, chlorophyll a and b of maize were markedly affected, particularly in the sensitive cultivar.
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“responses of maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars to drought stress”
e4“Under drought, chlorophyll a and b were markedly affected, particularly in the sensitive cultivar”
Claim · model-written summary
Proline increased by 23.34% in CIMMYT PAK under drought-stressed conditions.
- Material
- CIMMYT PAKe5
- Treatment
- drought-stressed conditionse2
- Outcome
- Prolinee5
- Direction
- increasede5
- Value
- 23.34%e5
- Comparator
- well-waterede2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“responses of maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars to drought stress”
e2“under well-watered and drought-stressed conditions”
e5“Proline, membrane stability index, soluble sugars, and potassium levels increased by 23.34%, 2.67%, 18.24%, and 5.72% in CIMMYT PAK, and by 24.09%, 9.05%, 22.97%, and 6.77% in Haq Nawaz”
Claim · model-written summary
Membrane stability index increased by 2.67% in CIMMYT PAK under drought-stressed conditions.
- Material
- CIMMYT PAKe5
- Treatment
- drought-stressed conditionse2
- Outcome
- membrane stability indexe5
- Direction
- increasede5
- Value
- 2.67%e5
- Comparator
- well-waterede2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“responses of maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars to drought stress”
e2“under well-watered and drought-stressed conditions”
e5“Proline, membrane stability index, soluble sugars, and potassium levels increased by 23.34%, 2.67%, 18.24%, and 5.72% in CIMMYT PAK, and by 24.09%, 9.05%, 22.97%, and 6.77% in Haq Nawaz”
Claim · model-written summary
Soluble sugars increased by 18.24% in CIMMYT PAK under drought-stressed conditions.
- Material
- CIMMYT PAKe5
- Treatment
- drought-stressed conditionse2
- Outcome
- soluble sugarse5
- Direction
- increasede5
- Value
- 18.24%e5
- Comparator
- well-waterede2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“responses of maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars to drought stress”
e2“under well-watered and drought-stressed conditions”
e5“Proline, membrane stability index, soluble sugars, and potassium levels increased by 23.34%, 2.67%, 18.24%, and 5.72% in CIMMYT PAK, and by 24.09%, 9.05%, 22.97%, and 6.77% in Haq Nawaz”
Claim · model-written summary
Potassium levels increased by 5.72% in CIMMYT PAK under drought-stressed conditions.
- Material
- CIMMYT PAKe5
- Treatment
- drought-stressed conditionse2
- Outcome
- potassium levelse5
- Direction
- increasede5
- Value
- 5.72%e5
- Comparator
- well-waterede2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“responses of maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars to drought stress”
e2“under well-watered and drought-stressed conditions”
e5“Proline, membrane stability index, soluble sugars, and potassium levels increased by 23.34%, 2.67%, 18.24%, and 5.72% in CIMMYT PAK, and by 24.09%, 9.05%, 22.97%, and 6.77% in Haq Nawaz”
Claim · model-written summary
Proline increased by 24.09% in Haq Nawaz under drought-stressed conditions.
- Material
- Haq Nawaze5
- Treatment
- drought-stressed conditionse2
- Outcome
- Prolinee5
- Direction
- increasede5
- Value
- 24.09%e5
- Comparator
- well-waterede2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“responses of maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars to drought stress”
e2“under well-watered and drought-stressed conditions”
e5“Proline, membrane stability index, soluble sugars, and potassium levels increased by 23.34%, 2.67%, 18.24%, and 5.72% in CIMMYT PAK, and by 24.09%, 9.05%, 22.97%, and 6.77% in Haq Nawaz”
Claim · model-written summary
Membrane stability index increased by 9.05% in Haq Nawaz under drought-stressed conditions.
- Material
- Haq Nawaze5
- Treatment
- drought-stressed conditionse2
- Outcome
- membrane stability indexe5
- Direction
- increasede5
- Value
- 9.05%e5
- Comparator
- well-waterede2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“responses of maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars to drought stress”
e2“under well-watered and drought-stressed conditions”
e5“Proline, membrane stability index, soluble sugars, and potassium levels increased by 23.34%, 2.67%, 18.24%, and 5.72% in CIMMYT PAK, and by 24.09%, 9.05%, 22.97%, and 6.77% in Haq Nawaz”
Claim · model-written summary
Soluble sugars increased by 22.97% in Haq Nawaz under drought-stressed conditions.
- Material
- Haq Nawaze5
- Treatment
- drought-stressed conditionse2
- Outcome
- soluble sugarse5
- Direction
- increasede5
- Value
- 22.97%e5
- Comparator
- well-waterede2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“responses of maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars to drought stress”
e2“under well-watered and drought-stressed conditions”
e5“Proline, membrane stability index, soluble sugars, and potassium levels increased by 23.34%, 2.67%, 18.24%, and 5.72% in CIMMYT PAK, and by 24.09%, 9.05%, 22.97%, and 6.77% in Haq Nawaz”
Claim · model-written summary
Potassium levels increased by 6.77% in Haq Nawaz under drought-stressed conditions.
- Material
- Haq Nawaze5
- Treatment
- drought-stressed conditionse2
- Outcome
- potassium levelse5
- Direction
- increasede5
- Value
- 6.77%e5
- Comparator
- well-waterede2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“responses of maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars to drought stress”
e2“under well-watered and drought-stressed conditions”
e5“Proline, membrane stability index, soluble sugars, and potassium levels increased by 23.34%, 2.67%, 18.24%, and 5.72% in CIMMYT PAK, and by 24.09%, 9.05%, 22.97%, and 6.77% in Haq Nawaz”
Claim · model-written summary
Nitrogen content decreased by 5.88% in CIMMYT PAK under drought-stressed conditions.
- Material
- CIMMYT PAKe6
- Treatment
- drought-stressed conditionse2
- Outcome
- nitrogene6
- Direction
- decreasede6
- Value
- 5.88%e6
- Comparator
- well-waterede2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“responses of maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars to drought stress”
e2“under well-watered and drought-stressed conditions”
e6“Conversely, nitrogen and phosphorus contents decreased by 5.88% and 6.19% in CIMMYT PAK, and by 6.29% and 19.34% in Haq Nawaz”
Claim · model-written summary
Phosphorus content decreased by 6.19% in CIMMYT PAK under drought-stressed conditions.
- Material
- CIMMYT PAKe6
- Treatment
- drought-stressed conditionse2
- Outcome
- phosphoruse6
- Direction
- decreasede6
- Value
- 6.19%e6
- Comparator
- well-waterede2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“responses of maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars to drought stress”
e2“under well-watered and drought-stressed conditions”
e6“Conversely, nitrogen and phosphorus contents decreased by 5.88% and 6.19% in CIMMYT PAK, and by 6.29% and 19.34% in Haq Nawaz”
Claim · model-written summary
Nitrogen content decreased by 6.29% in Haq Nawaz under drought-stressed conditions.
- Material
- Haq Nawaze6
- Treatment
- drought-stressed conditionse2
- Outcome
- nitrogene6
- Direction
- decreasede6
- Value
- 6.29%e6
- Comparator
- well-waterede2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“responses of maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars to drought stress”
e2“under well-watered and drought-stressed conditions”
e6“Conversely, nitrogen and phosphorus contents decreased by 5.88% and 6.19% in CIMMYT PAK, and by 6.29% and 19.34% in Haq Nawaz”
Claim · model-written summary
Phosphorus content decreased by 19.34% in Haq Nawaz under drought-stressed conditions.
- Material
- Haq Nawaze6
- Treatment
- drought-stressed conditionse2
- Outcome
- phosphoruse6
- Direction
- decreasede6
- Value
- 19.34%e6
- Comparator
- well-waterede2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“responses of maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars to drought stress”
e2“under well-watered and drought-stressed conditions”
e6“Conversely, nitrogen and phosphorus contents decreased by 5.88% and 6.19% in CIMMYT PAK, and by 6.29% and 19.34% in Haq Nawaz”
Claim · model-written summary
Higher osmolyte accumulation indicates superior adaptive mechanisms of CIMMYT PAK to drought-induced oxidative stress.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“responses of maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars to drought stress”
e7“indicate its superior adaptive mechanisms to drought-induced oxidative stress”
e0“The higher accumulation of osmolytes (proline and soluble sugars)”
Claim · model-written summary
Screening drought-responsive morpho-physiological and biochemical traits can identify tolerant maize genotypes for breeding.
- Outcome
- screening drought-responsive morpho-physiological and biochemical traitse1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“responses of maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars to drought stress”
e1“These findings highlight the importance of screening drought-responsive morpho-physiological and biochemical traits to identify tolerant genotypes”
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