Quality protein maize (QPM) describes a range of maize cultivars with twice the content of limiting amino acids lysine and tryptophan compared with conventional maize, and has been developed to help reduce human malnutrition in areas where protein deficiency is prevalent and where maize is the major protein source in the diet, as in various parts of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The International M...

In response to a mandate from the maize (Zea mays) genetics community, a National Science Foundationsponsored workshop was held in St. Louis on July 2, 2001, to discuss technical approaches for a Maize Genome Sequencing Project. This workshop included academic, governmental, and industrial scientists with expertise in analysis of human, animal, plant, and microbial genomes as well as observers ...

Herbivore-induced plant volatiles have been shown to serve as indirect defence signals that attract natural enemies of herbivores. Parasitoids and predators exploit these plant-provided cues to locate their victims and several herbivores are repelled by the volatiles. Recently, benefits, in terms of plant fitness, from the action of the parasitoids were shown for a few systems. However, the cos...

Two fumonisin-nonproducing strains of Fusarium verticillioides and their fumonisin producing progenitors were tested for aggressiveness toward maize, sorghum, rice, and beetroot seedlings grown under greenhouse conditions. None of the plants showed obvious disease symptoms after root dip inoculation. Fungal biomass was determined by species-specific real-time PCR. No significant (P = 0.05) diff...

Biofuel made from conventional (e.g., maize (Zea mays L.)) and cellulosic crops (e.g., switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) and Miscanthus (Miscanthus 9 giganteus)) provides alternative energy to fossil fuels and has been considered to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. To estimate the large-scale carbon and nitrogen dynamics of these biofuel ecosystems, process-based models are needed. Here, we d...

Maize (Zea mays L.) is a major crop susceptible to Aspergillus flavus infection and subsequent contamination with aflatoxins, the potent carcinogenic secondary metabolites of the fungus. Protein profiles of maize genotypes resistant and susceptible to A. flavus infection and/or aflatoxin contamination have been compared, and several resistance-associated proteins have been found, including a pa...

This study deepens the measurement of technical inefficiency in private maize farming in Georgia, applying iocelly parametric (LP) r eg ression method, whicb builds on the stochastic frantier production function appraach. Detailed survey data for 221 mixed farms for 1997 are used in the estimations. Findings suggest: (i) maize production can be further increased by breaking up large farms into ...

BACKGROUND Atrazine and other triazine herbicides are widely used in US maize and sorghum production, yet the most recent market-level assessment of the economic benefits of atrazine is for market conditions prevalent in the early 1990s, before commercialization of transgenic crops. Grain markets have changed substantially since that time; for example, the size of the US maize market increased ...

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...