June 3, 2012 Researchers at the University of California, Davis,
report that ancient farmers had a stronger impact on the
evolution of maize, or corn, than modern plant breeders have had
on the grain -- now one of the world's top production crops. The
findings, together with a companion study on maize diversity,
appear in the online edition of the journal Nature Genetics. The
research was funded by the National Science Foundation and
conducted by scientists from 17 international institutions,
including BGI, the world's largest genomics organization. It
will serve as the basis for future research in crop evolution.
"These two studies provide a new and more comprehensive
understanding of genomic variation in maize, which will be
critically important to plant breeders as they work to increase
corn yield in the face of global population growth and climate
change," said plant geneticist Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra, the lead
researcher on the UC Davis-directed study. Professor Bart
Weimer, co-director of BGI@UCDavis, a res