Questions that still surround the origin and early dispersals of maize (Zea mays L.) result in large part from the absence of information on its early history from the Balsas River Valley of tropical southwestern Mexico, where its wild ancestor is native. We report starch grain and phytolith data from the Xihuatoxtla shelter, located in the Central Balsas Valley, that indicate that maize was pr...

Identifying and using native insect resistance genes is the core of integrated pest management. In this study, 10 experimental corn, Zea mays L., hybrids and 10 inbred lines were screened for resistance to major ear-feeding insects in the southeastern Coastal Plain region of the United States during 2004 and 2005. Ear-feeding insect damage was assessed at harvest by visual damage rating for the...

Maize streak virus (MSV) contributes significantly to the problem of extremely low African maize yields. Whilst a diverse range of MSV and MSV-like viruses are endemic in sub-Saharan Africa and neighbouring islands, only a single group of maize-adapted variants - MSV subtypes A(1)-A(6) - causes severe enough disease in maize to influence yields substantially. In order to assist in designing eff...

The maize (Zea mays subsp. mays L.) shoot apical meristem (SAM) is a self-replenishing pool of stem cells that produces all above-ground plant tissues. Improvements in image acquisition and processing techniques have allowed high-throughput, quantitative genetic analyses of SAM morphology. As with other large-scale phenotyping efforts, meaningful descriptions of genetic architecture depend on t...

Quantification of the Nitrogen (N)-supplying capacity of organic manures provides an important insight into more effective N management practices. The aims of this study were to determine the potential N mineralization of cow manure (CM), poultry manure (PM), urea fertilizer (UF) and the combined use of cow manure + urea fertilizer (CM + UF) for silage maize (Zea mays L.) in a calcareous so...

One of the most important stress factors in maize (Zea mays L.) fields is weed competition, which reduces the crop yield. Weeds chiefly interfere with maize and establish considerable competition for light, water and nutrients. To avoid these harmful effects, there are different agronomic measures and factors among which, the most relevant are the interactions between crop and weed, weed manage...

Maize (Zea mays L.)–legume intercropping is common cropping system among smallholder farmers in West Africa. However, little known about the income risk reduction associated with maize–legume strip A 3-yr study was conducted Upper and Northern regions of Ghana to determine effect on productivity, income, using a randomized complete block design five replications each region. Seven treatments we...

Maize (Zea mays L) is the most important food grain in sub-Saharan Africa and is mostly grown by small-scale farmers under rainfed conditions. Aluminum toxicity caused by low pH is one of the abiotic factors limiting maize production among smallholder farmers. Therefore, breeding maize hybrids that are tolerant to aluminum toxicity will sustain and increase maize production in these areas. Henc...

Not all genes are created equal. Despite being supported by sequence conservation and expression data, knockout homozygotes of many genes show no visible effects, at least under laboratory conditions. We have identified a set of maize (Zea mays L.) genes which have been the subject of a disproportionate share of publications recorded at MaizeGDB. We manually anchored these "classical" maize gen...

Hydrogen sulphide (H2S) is emerging as a potential molecule involved in physiological regulation in plants. However, whether H2S regulates iron-shortage responses in plants is largely unknown. Here, the role of H2S in modulating iron availability in maize (Zea mays L. cv Canner) seedlings grown in iron-deficient culture solution is reported. The main results are as follows: Firstly, NaHS, a don...