Chinese Bulletin of Botany ›› 2024, Vol. 59 ›› Issue (6): 883-902.DOI: 10.11983/CBB24089  cstr: 32102.14.CBB24089

Special Issue: 大食物观 粮食安全

• INVITED REVIEWS • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Genetic Dissection of Drought Resistance in Maize

Ziyang Wang, Shengxue Liu, Zhirui Yang, Feng Qin*()   

  1. State Key Laboratory of Plant Environmental Resilience, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
  • Received:2024-06-07 Accepted:2024-07-23 Online:2024-11-10 Published:2024-08-01
  • Contact: *E-mail: qinfeng@cau.edu.cn

Abstract: Maize (Zea mays) is the main crop in China, and drought is a primary abiotic stress during its growth, resulting in direct reduction in grain yield and quality, thereby posing a threat to food security within the global climate context. At present, global climate change leads to extreme weather events, which aggravates the adverse effects on yield. Therefore, it is imperative to identify drought-resistant germplasm resources, elucidate the molecular mechanisms of drought stress response, and breed drought-resistant varieties. Here, we review recent advances in the genetic dissection of drought resistance in maize using methods such as genome-wide association study, quantitative trait locus gene cloning and multi-omics analysis. Additionally, we introduce potential strategies for genetic improvement of drought resistance by leveraging the identified genetic resources while discussing future perspectives within this research area.

Key words: maize, drought resistance, genetic dissection, gene cloning, genetic improvement