Abstract Detail
Charles Heiser Special Contributed Paper Session Eubanks, Mary [1]. New Light on the Origin of Maize. How the ear of maize with hundreds of naked kernels borne in pairs on a solid rachis covered by husks derived from the shattering teosinte spike of 7-9 grains encased inhard seed coats has perplexed botanists for many years. There are currently two prominent hypotheses to explain the origin of maize. One claims that teosinte (Zea mays spp. parviglumis) from the Rio Balsas region of Guerrero, Mexico is the progenitor of maize. The other one claims that maize derived from human selection and cultivation of natural recombinants between diploid perennial teosinte (Zea diploperennis) and Tripsacum. This paper will review the two hypotheses in light of new evidence from the sequencing of the maize genome and from recent archaeological investigations in the Rio Balsas. Broader Impacts:
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Related Links:
http://www.dukemagazine.duke.edu/dukemag/issues/050606/scientist1.html
https://fds.duke.edu/db/aas/Biology/faculty/eubanks
1 - University of Texas Brackenridge Field Laboratory, 2709 Lake Austin Blvd., Austin, Texas, 78703, USA
Keywords:
maize
teosinte
Tripsacum
hybridization
origin of maize.
Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Topics
Session: 15
Location: Lindell D/Chase Park Plaza
Date: Monday, July 11th, 2011
Time: 2:30 PM
Number: 15005
Abstract ID:89 | 