"Amazing protein diversity" is discovered in the maize plant

The genome of the corn plant – or maize, as it's called almost everywhere except the US – "is a lot more exciting" than scientists have previously believed. So says the lead scientist in a new effort to analyze and annotate ...

Tracking down the jumping genes of maize

The "jumping genes" of maize have finally been mapped by an international team led by researchers at the University of California, Davis, and the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. The discovery could ultimately benefit the breeding ...

Crop yield in maize influenced by unexpected gene 'moonlighting'

Maize is a staple crop that came from humble beginnings. If you look at its wild ancestor, teosinte, the plant looks nearly unrecognizable. Human selection has persuaded the maize plant to grow in a way that produces higher ...

European and American maize: Same same, but different

German researchers decoded the European maize genome. In comparison to North American maize lines, they discovered variations that underlie phenotypic differences and may also contribute to the heterosis effect. A better ...

Evolutionary arms race between smut fungi and maize plants

Fungi are a major cause of plant diseases and are responsible for large-scale harvest failure in crops like maize and other cereals all over the world. Together with scientists from the Helmholtz Zentrum in Munich, Regine ...

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