Table 2.
Effect of chilling treatment on leaf pigment content in two maize hybrids
| F03802xF353 | F2xF353 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Control | Chilling | Control | Chilling | |
| chl a + b [μg.cm−2] | 64 ± 14 b | 49 ± 12 b | 43 ± 8 a | 32 ± 9 a |
| chl a / b | 4.1 ± 0.1 b | 4.3 ± 0.1 c | 3.8 ± 0.2 a | 4.1 ± 0.2 b |
| GG-chl a / chl a [‰] | 0.8 ± 0.1 b | 3.2 ± 0.4 c | 0.2 ± 0.1 a | 4.8 ± 0.3 d |
| total carotenoids / chl a + b [%] | 10.6 ± 0.3 b | 11.8 ± 1.6 b | 9.1 ± 0.4 a | 12.5 ± 1.8 ab |
| β carotene / chl a + b [%] | 3.5 ± 0.2 c | 3.2 ± 0.1 b | 2.6 ± 0.2 a | 2.8 ± 0.2 a |
| lutein / chl a + b [%] | 4.0 ± 0.2 b | 4.6 ± 0.7 b | 3.3 ± 0.2 a | 4.4 ± 0.8 ab |
| total xanthophylls / chl a + b [%] | 2.2 ± 0.2 a | 3.3 ± 0.9 a | 2.3 ± 0.3 a | 4.3 ± 0.9 b |
| de-epoxidation index [A+Z/V+A+Z, %] |
1.3 ± 0.5 a | 19.2 ± 4.9 c | 3.3 ± 0.8 a | 15.7 ± 4.4 b |
chl chlorophyll, GG geranylgeranyl, A antheraxantin, Z zeaxanthin, V violaxanthin. The 7-day chilling treatment (10 °C day/4 °C night) was applied at about the 6-VL stage. Sampling was made on leaf 4 blade (15 cm from the ligule, on either side of the midrib) at the end of the chilling treatment for treated plants or 1 day after the beginning of the treatment for control plants in order to compare plants at the same developmental stage. Data are means ± sd of 21 plants (7 individuals in 3 experiments). Different letters indicate significant differences between groups (P < 0.05)