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Submitted to: Maydica
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 6/21/2005 Publication Date: 8/1/2005 Citation: Sachs, M.M. 2005. Maize mutants: Resources for research. Maydica. 50:305-309. Interpretive Summary: 1) Rationale: One important aim of basic research in crop plants is to gain greater insight as to how genes function and interact. This manuscript describes mutant resources of maize that can be used for basic and applied research. 2) Accomplishments: This work explains genetic tools that are available in maize. 3) Significance: The understanding of mauze mutants will us a greater understanding of gene function in crop plants. This in turn can lead to a deeper understanding of methods to improve crop plants. This information will be of interest to plant geneticists. Technical Abstract: Abundance of variation in maize was an important factor that made it a model system to study the principles of inheritance. Additional variation was subsequently created by mutagenesis. Most of these mutants have been donated to the Maize Genetics Cooperation ' Stock Center, where they have become a resource shared by the maize research community. Recent large-scale mutagenesis projects have developed resources that are being used to identify new mutants using forward and reverse genetics approaches. These mutants are giving us a basic understanding of maize biology and are useful resources in applied approaches to improve maize as a crop plant. |
