M A N Y hybrids between genetic pure lines in maize exhibit heterosis. The search for the genetic basis of heterosis has been carried on for many years and by many workers. Despite these efforts, an adequate, specific biochemical explanation of heterosis has not been presented. JONES (1952) has noted the interaction of nuclear genes and cytoplasm, as evidenced by differences in reciprocal cross...

Species identity and trichothecene toxin potential of 560 members of the Fusarium graminearum species complex (FGSC) collected from diseased wheat, barley and maize in South Africa was determined using a microsphere-based multilocus genotyping assay. Although three trichothecene types (3-ADON, 15-ADON and NIV) were represented among these isolates, strains with the 15-ADON type predominated on ...

A field study was conducted on sandy clay loam soil to evaluate the impact of row spacing and N application method on the productivity of maize (Zea mays L.). The experiment was conducted using four row spacings (60 cm spaced single rows, 90 cm spaced double row strips, 90 cm spaced single rows and 135 cm spaced double row strips) and two methods of nitrogen (N) application (broadcast and band ...

In angiosperms, the endosperm nurtures the embryo and provides nutrients for seed germination. To identify the expression pattern of small interfering RNA in the developing maize endosperm, we have performed high-throughput small RNA transcriptome sequencing of kernels at 0, 3, and 5 days after pollination (DAP) and endosperms at 7, 10, and 15 DAP using B73 and Mo17 reciprocal crosses in previo...

Maize hybrids expressing the Cry1F toxin provide efficient control of lepidopteran pests. The Mediterranean corn borer, Sesamia nonagrioides (Lefèvre), is one of the most damaging pests of maize in the Mediterranean basin. In this work we firstly determined the efficacy of maize hybrids expressing the Cry1F toxin (event TC1507) to control neonates of S. nonagrioides. Leaf tissue feeding bioassa...

Maize Agrobacterium-mediated transformation efficiency has been greatly improved in recent years. Antioxidants, such as, cysteine, can significantly improve maize transformation frequency through improving the Agrobacterium infection efficiency. However, the mechanism underlying the transformation improvement after cysteine exposure has not been elucidated. In this study, we showed that the add...

Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is a major public health problem in many developing countries. Orange maize is preferred as green maize and consumed roasted on the cob, especially in Nigeria. This research work was to evaluate the effects of harvest time and husk on the carotenoid contents and sensory properties of roasted orange maize hybrids. The results showed that husk (roasting forms) and harve...

One of the major quantitative trait loci for flowering time in maize, the Vegetative to generative transition 1 (Vgt1) locus, corresponds to an upstream (70 kb) noncoding regulatory element of ZmRap2.7, a repressor of flowering. At Vgt1, a miniature transposon (MITE) insertion into a conserved noncoding sequence was previously found to be highly associated with early flowering in independent st...

in order to evaluate of diversity among new maize hybrids for quantitative and morphological traits, 17 new single cross maize hybrids were studied in shahrood agriculture research station using randomized complete blocks design with four replications. results showed that five independent factors were responsible for significant correlation between 16 measured traits and explained 89.18% of tot...