Abstract: The effect of phosphorus(P) level on P absorption,utilization and acid phosphatase(APase) activity was studied using hydroponic maize seedlings of original line Qi319(control) and low-P tolerance lines 99037 and 99106,obtained from cell engineering technology,under 1 mol/L or 1000 mol/L KH2PO4.The results showed that under P-stress environment the root-shoot ratio,P-use efficiency and APase activity of seedlings from three inbred lines increased significantly,and P content and biomass decreased obviously,but there were still significant differences among the three maize genotypes.99037 had lower P concentration and higher P-reuse ability,P-use efficiency and net P-accumulation,compared with Qi319,which may be the primary factors leading to higher low-P tolerance of 99037.