Lack of water and low nutrition affecting crop during the critical period of maize are the main determinants in grain yield variability. Grain yield and anthesis-silking interval (ASI) are two of the main traits used in maize breeding programs. Under drought conditions, selection for a reduced ASI has resulted in greater and more stable grain yield, however, these traits are largely influenced by the environment, showing a high GxE. Thus, the phenotypic plasticity of these traits deserve evaluation. Phenotypic plasticity is the ability to change the phenotype according to environmental conditions. Therefore, plasticity can be high (unstable trait) or low (stable trait). In the current research, 7 temperate maize hybrids were assessed in 13 environments, including water and nitrogen stress environments, in the Mediterranean climate area of Chile with the objective to evaluate grain yield, anthesis-silking interval, and phenotypic plasticities.

Within the group of evaluated traits, ASI and grain yield had the highest phenotypic plasticity for the set of temperate maize hybrids studied. These results confirm the higher HxE interaction for these traits and the necessity to evaluate “ASI plasticity” and its relationship with yield stability. ASI plasticity was positively associated with yield plasticity (r = 0.93; p = 0.002). Only in water stress environment, a greater ASI plasticity was significantly associated with a greater ASI (r = 0.98; p = 0.00008) and lesser grain yield (r = −0.76; p = 0.047). The greater yield plasticity was associated with a lesser grain yield (r = −0.88; p = 0.009) and a greater ASI (r = 0.93; p = 0.003). There were no associations between these traits under potential and N-stress conditions. According to this research, it is corroborated the necessity to assess “ASI plasticity” as a compliment of ASI for breeding proposes under water stress conditions in temperate hybrid maize.

玉米关键时期影响作物的缺水和低营养是粮食产量变异的主要决定因素。谷物产量和花丝期 (ASI) 是玉米育种计划中使用的两个主要性状。在干旱条件下，降低 ASI 的选择导致了更大和更稳定的谷物产量，然而，这些性状在很大程度上受环境影响，表现出高 GxE。因此，这些性状的表型可塑性值得评估。表型可塑性是根据环境条件改变表型的能力。因此，可塑性可以很高（不稳定的性状）或低（稳定的性状）。在目前的研究中，在 13 个环境中评估了 7 个温带玉米杂交种，包括水和氮胁迫环境，

在评估的性状组中，ASI 和籽粒产量对于所研究的温带玉米杂交种具有最高的表型可塑性。这些结果证实了这些性状的较高 HxE 相互作用以及评估“ASI 可塑性”及其与产量稳定性的关系的必要性。ASI 可塑性与屈服可塑性呈正相关（r = 0.93；p = 0.002）。只有在水分胁迫环境下，更大的 ASI 可塑性与更大的 ASI (r = 0.98; p = 0.00008) 和更低的粮食产量 (r = -0.76; p = 0.047) 显着相关。较大的屈服塑性与较小的晶粒产量（r = -0.88；p = 0.009）和较大的 ASI（r = 0.93；p = 0.003）相关。在潜在和 N 胁迫条件下，这些性状之间没有关联。根据这项研究，