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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Raleigh, North Carolina » Plant Science Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #420757
Research Project: Genetic Diversity and Disease Resistance in Maize

Location: Plant Science Research

Title: Oaxacan Green Dent maize is not from Oaxaca

Author
item Holland, James
item WILLCOX, MARTHA - University Of Wisconsin
item SAMAYOA-LOPEZ, FERNANDO - North Carolina State University
item WOORE, MATTHEW - North Carolina State University
item SALAZAR-VIDAL, MIRIAM NANCY - University Of Missouri
item TRACY, WILLIAM - University Of Wisconsin

Submitted to: Crop Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/6/2025
Publication Date: 3/19/2025
Citation: Holland, J.B., Willcox, M., Samayoa-Lopez, F., Woore, M.S., Salazar-Vidal, M., Tracy, W.F. 2025. Oaxacan Green Dent maize is not from Oaxaca. Crop Science. 65(2):e70029. https://doi.org/10.1002/csc2.70029.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/csc2.70029

Interpretive Summary: Oaxacan Green Dent is an open-pollinated maize variety with unique green-colored kernels. Oaxacan Green Dent’s origin is unclear, it does not match descriptions of known Oaxacan cultivars. Phenotypic, genetic, and historical data presented here demonstrate that Oaxacan Green Dent is not from Oaxaca. We show that Oaxacan Green Dent is a renamed version of Ernest Strubbe’s Green Dent variety from Minnesota. We recommend seed dealers discontinue the use of “Oaxaca” in the variety name and instead refer to it as Ernest Strubbe’s Green Dent.

Technical Abstract: Oaxacan Green Dent is a maize (Zea mays L.) cultivar marketed as an introduced Mexican heritage cultivar adapted to the higher latitudes of the United States. Its adaptation and appearance contradict an origin in Oaxaca, Mexico, however, and no indigenous cultivars in Oaxaca are known to have the unique kernel colors of Oaxacan Green Dent. We compared phenotypes and genotypes of Oaxacan Green Dent sampled from three different sources along with several Corn Belt cultivars and 15 landrace accessions collected from a wide range of geography, altitude, and cultural groups in Oaxaca. Multivariate analysis of 13 phenotypic traits measured in a field experiment suggested that Oaxacan Green Dent is more closely related to Corn Belt Dents than to Oaxacan cultivars. Genomic analysis from DNA sequencing demonstrated unambiguously that Oaxacan Green Dents are even more distantly related to Oaxacan cultivars than typical US Corn Belt Dent cultivars are. Phenotypic, genetic, and historical data indicate that Oaxacan Green Dent is almost certainly directly derived from Ernest Strubbe’s Green Dent cultivar, which he developed in Minnesota from crosses between a Corn Belt Dent cultivar and an intensely colored popcorn cultivar, with no contribution from Oaxacan cultivars.