Morpho-physiological response of maize (Zea mays L.) genotypes under aluminium stress at early seedling stage

This study investigated the morpho-physiological responses of five maize (Zea mays L.) genotypes to aluminum stress during the early seedling stage. The experiment, conducted at the Plant Physiology Laboratory in the Department of Crop Botany at Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, followed a two-factor completely randomized design with aluminum concentrations (0 μM as control, 100 μM, and 200 μM) and five maize varieties (Konok, Kaveri-50, BWMRI-1, BHM-14, and BHM-16). Variety Konok exhibited superior overall performance across experimental parameters, while aluminum stress at 200 μM consistently decreased seed germination and seedling growth compared to the control at all recording stages. Variety Konok without aluminum stress demonstrated the highest values for root length (28.23 cm), shoot fresh weight (4.35 g), shoot dry weight (0.53 g), root fresh weight (8.18 g), root dry weight (1.21 g), total fresh weight (12.56 g), total dry weight (1.74 g), vigor index (5106.7). Conversely, under aluminum stress (200 μM AlCl3), the lowest values were observed in root length (14.70 cm), shoot length (15.38 cm), seedling length (31.50 cm), shoot fresh weight (1.79 g), shoot dry weight (0.20 g), root fresh weight (1.96 g), root dry weight (0.47 g), total fresh weight (3.84 g), total dry weight (0.67 g), vigor index (2592.7), and various stress tolerance indices. In summary, the study suggests that the maize variety "Konok" exhibits greater enhancement during the early seedling stage when grown without exposure to aluminum stress, emphasizing its potential for improved performance under normal conditions.