Ever since humans have started planting seeds and harvesting crops, they have unconsciously been selecting some traits of the plants over other traits. This selection process involved nothing more than rejecting the crops that were not suitable for consumption, or had low yield, and using those which were good/easy to eat, and easy to harvest. Over thousands of years, this process has helped domesticate a number of plants, which cannot survive in the wild today and are totally dependent on our abilities as harvesters for their survival.
Corn: Past and Present (Courtesy: PhysOrg)
The corn was domesticated about 6,000 years ago. Out of its 59,000 genes, about 1,200 were preferentially selected during this domestication process. The domesticated corn lost the ability to survive in the wild, produced larger and softer yields, and survived much longer:).
The study was published by University of California, Irvine's Brandon Gaut and his colleagues in the journal Science. Gaut and his coworkers used relatively new genomic techniques to determine the DNA sequence of 700 gene bits in the two plants (modern corn, and ancstral Teosinte) and used population genetics, the study of genetic variation, to compare them.
According to the scientists, the will provide important insights to modern corn breeders in their quest to establish hardier, higher-yielding corn plants. The scientific approach will also be useful in the study of other domesticated organisms, plants and animals alike, and will help us understand the natural processes by which plants and animals were once domesticated by our ancestors:).
Corn: Past and Present (Courtesy: PhysOrg)
The corn was domesticated about 6,000 years ago. Out of its 59,000 genes, about 1,200 were preferentially selected during this domestication process. The domesticated corn lost the ability to survive in the wild, produced larger and softer yields, and survived much longer:).
The study was published by University of California, Irvine's Brandon Gaut and his colleagues in the journal Science. Gaut and his coworkers used relatively new genomic techniques to determine the DNA sequence of 700 gene bits in the two plants (modern corn, and ancstral Teosinte) and used population genetics, the study of genetic variation, to compare them.
According to the scientists, the will provide important insights to modern corn breeders in their quest to establish hardier, higher-yielding corn plants. The scientific approach will also be useful in the study of other domesticated organisms, plants and animals alike, and will help us understand the natural processes by which plants and animals were once domesticated by our ancestors:).
Domesticating Corn
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12 Comments:
for many years it used to be the main diet in the offseason for farmers.
and now the scientific part of it,thanx for the info,but it sure makes me roll my eyes,and say "GOOD OLD CORN,I LOVE U THE WAY U R,WITH OR WITH SCIETIFIC INFO" Bhuhahahaha
And it's delicious
Atheist: Yes it is. We humans have always done domestication, and this is the sort of micro-evolution that even the most dogmatic of people would understand. Then combine a string of these micro-evolutions, and you have the macro-evolution/speciation that we have been having for millions of years on this planet!!
The conquering Spaniards introduced new agricultural techniques and species into Mesoamerica, just as they also introduced Mesoamerican species to Europe. Many Mesoamerican crops were introduced into Europe as novelties and curiosities, but maize spread quickly wherever Spaniards traveled, in large part because of its broad adaptability and high productivity. Though Spaniards themselves tended to regard maize as an inferior grain that produced coarse food stuffs best suited for animal consumption, many peoples contacted by the Spaniards (and Portuguese) in their expanding global trade routes quickly adopted it as a source of human food. In such a way maize quickly penetrated Africa, India and China during the 16th century.
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