Crop plants were domesticated by prehistoric farmers through artificial selection to provide a means of feeding the human population. This article discusses the developmental genetics of crop domestication and improvement, including the historical framework and recent approaches in maize and other grasses. In many cases, selecting for a plant form that correlates with productivity involves controlling meristem activity. In the domestication of modern maize from its progenitor Zea mays ssp. parviglumis, QTL (quantitative trait loci) mapping, genetics and population genomics approaches have identified several genes that contain signatures of selection. Only a few genes involved in the derivation of the highly productive maize ear have been identified, including teosinte glume architecture1 and ramosa1. Future prospects hinge on forward and reverse genetics, as well as on other approaches from the developing discipline of evo-devo (evolutionary developmental biology).
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October 2005
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Conference Article|
October 26 2005
Amazing grass: developmental genetics of maize domestication
E. Vollbrecht;
E. Vollbrecht
1
1Department of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, U.S.A.
1To whom correspondence should be addressed (email vollbrec@iastate.edu).
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B. Sigmon
B. Sigmon
1Department of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, U.S.A.
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
August 16 2005
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© 2005 The Biochemical Society
2005
Biochem Soc Trans (2005) 33 (6): 1502–1506.
Article history
Received:
August 16 2005
Citation
E. Vollbrecht, B. Sigmon; Amazing grass: developmental genetics of maize domestication. Biochem Soc Trans 26 October 2005; 33 (6): 1502–1506. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST0331502
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