Location: Plant Genetics Research
Project Number: 5070-21220-046-012-A
Project Type: Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Sep 15, 2023
End Date: Aug 14, 2026
Objective:
The objectives of the research are to characterize the Maize Heirlooms from the United States, both at a genotypic and phenotypic level; determine the genetic architecture of adaptation, agronomic performance, and food/nutrition traits; and improve the agronomic characteristics of a subset of landraces chosen for potential food uses.
Approach:
We will acquire germplasm from the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System, Native American organizations, seed savers organizations, etc. We will sample twelve plants per accession for 500 accessions in order to conduct DNA marker characterization, including cluster analysis to establish a phylogeny, analyze diversity within and among the U.S. landraces, and establish relationships between U.S. landraces with typical Mexican accessions. The U.S. landraces will be characterized for a wide range phenotypes related to adaptation, agronomic performance, and food/nutrition characteristics.
We will collect high throughput phenotypes in the field and lab, and conduct genome wide association studies (GWAS) for a number of traits including flowering, plant/ear height, kernel row number, ear length and width, kernel weight and kernel starch, protein, and oil content.
We will choose a subset of the landraces with an array of kernel and ear morphologies and conduct yield trials to determine their yield potential for producers.
