We took a rather unique approach to investigate the conservation of gene expression of prolamin storage protein genes across two different subfamilies of the Poaceae. We took advantage of oat plants carrying single maize chromosomes in different cultivars, called oat-maize addition (OMA) lines, which permitted us to determine whether regulation of gene expression was conserved between the two s...

BACKGROUND Genetically modified, (GM) crops with potential allergens must be evaluated for safety and endogenous IgE binding pattern compared to native variety, prior to market release. OBJECTIVE To compare endogenous IgE binding proteins of three GM maize seeds containing Cry 1Ab,1Ac,1C transgenic proteins with non GM maize. METHODS An integrated approach of in silico & in vitro methods wa...

Waxy maize (Zea mays L. var. ceratina) is an important vegetable and economic crop that is thought to have originated from cultivated flint maize and most recently underwent divergence from common maize. In this study, a total of 110 waxy and 110 common maize inbred lines were genotyped with 3072 SNPs to evaluate the genetic diversity, population structure, and linkage disequilibrium decay as w...

Diabrotica species (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) larval behavior studies have posed a challenge to researchers because of the subterranean life cycle of this pest. To fully understand how the western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte, injures the maize, Zea mays L., root system, its behavior must be studied. For example, larvae that can detect an area of the root that has a lo...

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...

Corn is a major staple food, along with rice and wheat, in many parts of the world. There are several reports of hypersensitivity to maize pollen. However, cases of occupational allergic rhinitis induced by inhalation of maize pollen are very rare. We herein report the case of a 67-year-old male with occupational rhinitis caused by occupational exposure to maize pollen in a cornfield. He showed...

We examined pollen grains and starch granules from a large number of modern populations of teosinte (wild Zea spp.), maize (Zea mays L.), and closely related grasses in the genus Tripsacum to assess their strengths and weaknesses in studying the origins and early dispersals of maize in its Mesoamerican cradle of origin. We report new diagnostic criteria and question the accuracy of others used ...

To determine the most economical and efficient means to maintain cultures of Maize chlorotic dwarf virus (MCDV) and to screen for host plant resistance to MCDV, we evaluated the effects of temperature, light intensity, daylength, atmospheric pressure, and leafhopper gender on the frequency of transmission of MCDV by Grarminella nigrifrons Forbes (Homoptera: Cicadellidae). Female leafhoppers tra...

Soil type and fertility level influence straw carbon dynamics in the agroecosystems. However, there is a limited understanding of the dynamic processes of straw-derived and soil-derived carbon and the influence of the addition of straw carbon on soil-derived organic carbon in different soils associated with different fertility levels. In this study, we applied the in-situ carborundum tube metho...

The occurrence of volunteer maize plants in subsequent crops as well as of feral maize plants in non-agricultural areas is an essential issue in risk assessments of genetically modified (GM) maize, with regard to possible contamination of natural habitats with GM material and as contribution to the total adventitious GM content of the non-GM final product. The appearance of feral maize plants h...