Drought is the main stress for agriculture, and maize (Zea mays L.) germplasm from the Sahara has been identified as potential source of drought tolerance; however, information about adaptation of semitropical maize germplasm from the Sahara to temperate areas has not been reported. Our objective was assessing the adaptation of maize germplasm from Saharan oases as sources of drought tolerance for improving yield and biomass production under drought conditions in temperate environments. A collection of maize populations from Saharan oases was evaluated under drought and control conditions in Spain and Algeria. Algerian populations were significantly different under drought for most traits, and the significant genotype × environment interactions indicated that drought tolerance is genotype-dependent, but tolerance differences among genotypes change across environments. Based on yield, the Algerian maize populations PI527474, PI527478, PI527472, PI527467, PI527470, and PI527473 would be appropriate sources of drought tolerance for temperate environments. Concerning biomass production, the most interesting populations were PI527467, PI542685, PI527478, and PI527472. These Saharan populations could provide favorable alleles for drought tolerance for temperate breeding programs, and could also be used for studying mechanisms and genetic regulation of drought tolerance.

干旱是农业的主要压力，玉米（Zea maysL.) 来自撒哈拉沙漠的种质已被确定为耐旱性的潜在来源；然而，关于亚热带玉米种质从撒哈拉沙漠适应温带地区的信息尚未见报道。我们的目标是评估来自撒哈拉绿洲的玉米种质作为耐旱性来源的适应性，以提高温带干旱条件下的产量和生物量生产。在西班牙和阿尔及利亚的干旱和控制条件下对来自撒哈拉绿洲的一组玉米种群进行了评估。阿尔及利亚种群大多数性状在干旱条件下存在显着差异，显着的基因型×环境相互作用表明耐旱性是基因型依赖性的，但基因型之间的耐受性差异因环境而异。根据产量，阿尔及利亚玉米种群 PI527474、PI527478、PI527472、PI527467、PI527470 和 PI527473 将是温带环境耐旱性的合适来源。关于生物量生产，最有趣的种群是 PI527467、PI542685、PI527478 和 PI527472。这些撒哈拉种群可以为温带育种计划提供有利的耐旱等位基因，也可以用于研究耐旱机制和遗传调控。