Kernel size is an important component of grain yield in maize breeding programs. To extend the understanding on the genetic basis of kernel size traits (i.e., kernel length, kernel width and kernel thickness), we developed a set of four-way cross mapping population derived from four maize inbred lines with varied kernel sizes. In the present study, we investigated the genetic basis of natural v...

The successful development and diffusion of improved maize seed in Zambia during the 1970s–80s was a major achievement of African agriculture but was predicated on a government commitment to parastatal grain and seed marketing, the provision of services to maize growers, and a pan-territorial pricing scheme that was fiscally unsustainable. Declining maize output when this system was dismantled ...

Sulfur assimilation may limit the pool of methionine and cysteine available for incorporation into zeins, the major seed storage proteins in maize. This hypothesis was tested by producing transgenic maize with deregulated sulfate reduction capacity achieved through leaf-specific expression of the Escherichia coli enzyme 3'-phosphoadenosine-5'-phosphosulfate reductase (EcPAPR) that resulted in h...

Livestock is an important sector of agriculture, but good quality forage is one of the major limiting factors for the growth of this industry. Studies were conducted to compare the forage quality of maize and legumes sown in pure stand and in mixture in randomized complete blocks during 2005 and 2006 at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan. Maize (Zea mays L.) and three legumes [c...

The pericarp consist in the transformed wall of the ovary that covers the seed and acts as a protection for the embryo and endosperm. It takes the place of the seed coats or integuments in the ordinary seeds, which in maize are reduced to unnoticeable remnants in the mature kernel. A thin, suberized nucellar membrane derived from the outer epidermal wall of the nucellus persists as a continuous...

Seed industry is an important basic industry in agricultural, an emerging industry as well. However, the new varieties are driving force and providing source for seed industry development. How extending the new varieties to the most appropriate place are important issues that seed industry needs to address. East of North China as an example, the county for the evaluation unit, on the basis of a...

Immature embryos as a choice tissue for genetic transformation of maize have a few limitations, such as genotype dependence, time-consuming and requiring a well-equipped greenhouse for access, at any time. In the present study, the split-seed explants were used for genetic transformation of maize, B73 line. The transformation of maize split-seed explants from the inbred line B73, for resistance...

Small-scale subsistence farmers in South Africa have been introduced to genetically modified (GM) crops for more than a decade. Little is known about i) the extent of transgene introgression into locally recycled seed, ii) what short and long-term ecological and socioeconomic impacts such mixing of seeds might have, iii) how the farmers perceive GM crops, and iv) to what degree approval conditi...