# Assessing the Impact of Yield Plasticity on Hybrid Performance in Maize

## TL;DR

This study explores how maize hybrids respond to environmental changes and finds that plasticity in yield traits is repeatable and varies depending on the trait and environment.

## Contribution

The study reveals that there is no clear tradeoff between plasticity and performance and identifies trait-specific patterns of plasticity in maize.

## Key findings

- There is no clear tradeoff between linear plasticity and mean performance in maize hybrids.
- Genotype-by-environment interactions rarely alter selection decisions based on the tested environments.
- Plasticity in response to nitrogen fertilization is not repeatable, which may explain breeding challenges for nitrogen use efficiency.

## Abstract

Improving crop resilience in the face of increasingly extreme and unpredictable weather and reduced access to agricultural inputs such as nitrogen fertilizer and water will require an improved understanding of phenotypic plasticity in crops. To understand the roles of different component traits in determining overall plasticity for grain yield, we generated data from a panel of 122 maize (
Zea mays
) hybrids grown in replicated field trials in 34 environments spanning 1126 km (700 miles) of the US Corn Belt. We observed that the levels of genetic versus environmental control and the relationships between mean parent release year, overall performance, and linear plasticity were trait‐dependent across the 18 agronomic and yield components studied. Importantly and unexpectedly, we observed no clear tradeoff between linear plasticity and mean performance and found only rare examples where genotype‐by‐environment interactions would alter selection decisions based on the environments tested in our dataset. Furthermore, we showed that overall plasticity was repeatable and that plasticity in response to nitrogen fertilization was not, which may help explain the limited success in breeding for nitrogen use efficiency. Together, these findings improve our understanding of phenotypic plasticity, with implications for maize breeding.