Feeding by Spodoptera exigua (beet armyworm) larvae on Zea mays (maize) induces expression of 9-lipoxygenases to a greater extent than 13-lipoxygenases. Whereas 13-lipoxygenases have an established role in the synthesis of jasmonates that serve as defense signaling molecules in many plant species, relatively little is known about the role of 9-lipoxygenases in herbivore defense. Phylogenetic an...

The tropical maize race Tuxpeño is a well-known race of Mexican dent germplasm which has greatly contributed to the development of tropical and subtropical maize gene pools. In order to investigate how it could be exploited in future maize improvement, a panel of maize germplasm accessions was assembled and characterized using genome-wide Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) markers. This panel...

Ageing reduces vigour and viability in maize inbred lines due to non-heritable degenerative changes. Besides non-heritable genetic changes due to chromosome aberrations and damage in the DNA sequence, heritable changes during maize conservation have been reported. Genetic variability among aged seeds of inbred lines could be used for association studies with seed germination. The objective of t...