Inheritance of aluminum tolerance in maize

The purpose of this study was to investigate aluminum tolerance in maize. For this purpose, a nutrient solutionwas used with the tolerant (L922) and sensitive (Ast214) homozygous parental lines, with the segregating generation F2 andwith the F2:3 lines derived thereof. Seeds were germinated on paper and seedlings transferred to a nutrient solution containing4.5 mg L-1 aluminum. In the experiments involving F2:3 derived lines groups of rows with F2:3 plants were intercropped withrows of eight seedlings of the parental lines in a completely randomized block design. Results of the F2 generation demonstrateda bimodal distribution of relative frequencies, with approximately three times more seedlings in the tolerant group. Thissuggests the participation of only one locus in tolerance inheritance. The narrow-sense heritability (F2, F2:3) of seminal rootlength of F2 plants and means of F2:3 lines was 0.49, which partially explained the bimodal frequency distribution of means ofF2:3 lines, but was not accurate enough to differentiate tolerant from sensitive groups