Abstract
Four inbred maize lines, CH 106-4, CH 108-2, CHO 314 and CHO 348, which high alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) contents and high ADH increase rates in their primary roots after anaerobiosis were tolerant of waterlogging. Two inbred lines NAR 392 and SAN 320, showed a four-fold increase ADH activity after 24h of anaerobic treatment, but since their ADH contents in total protein were low, they were still sensitive to waterlogging. Two ADH- negative mutants, 303 4A and 2300-3, were susceptible to waterlogging. The two hybrid varieties. Seneco-60 and Jubilee, showed only a slight increase in ADH activity after anaerobiosis and were sensitive to waterlogging, but due to their high vigour, their survival rate were still high. The results indicated that ADHs play an important role in waterlogging tolerance in maize by generating oxidizing powder in the absence of oxygen. Also, a rapid increase of ADHs in maize primary roots during anaerobiosis is an adaptive reaction to waterlogging
