Global genetic dissection of maize-teosinte divergence reveals EL3-2 as a pleiotropic domestication regulator.
Zhang R, Zhang X, Wu S, Cai L, Li X
Crop Improvement
Every ear of corn you've ever shucked exists because ancient farmers gradually coaxed a scraggly wild grass into a crop — and this gene, EL3-2, appears to be one of the central levers that made that transformation possible.
Corn was domesticated from a wild Mexican grass called teosinte thousands of years ago, but scientists still don't fully understand which genes drove that dramatic change in shape and size. Researchers crossed corn with teosinte and tracked nearly 100 genetic regions responsible for 20 different plant traits, building a kind of 'genetic map' of domestication. They also found one particular gene — EL3-2 — that influences many traits simultaneously, acting like a master regulator that helped shape the plant we grow today.
Key Findings
93 additive genetic regions (QTLs) and 9 pairs of interacting genes were identified controlling 20 agronomic traits across the maize-teosinte divide.
The gene EL3-2, encoding a ULTRAPETALA transcriptional regulator, is a pleiotropic domestication regulator affecting ear length and multiple other traits across developmental stages.
Selection analysis confirmed that domestication, crop improvement, and wild introgression each targeted overlapping but distinct genomic regions, with correlated traits sharing common genetic loci.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists identified 93 genetic regions controlling how modern corn diverged from its wild ancestor teosinte over thousands of years of domestication, and pinpointed one key gene — EL3-2 — that acts as a master switch influencing many traits at once, including ear length.
Abstract Preview
Understanding the genetic basis of trait divergence between maize and its wild progenitor teosinte is critical for elucidating crop domestication processes and accelerating maize improvement. This ...
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Maize, also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. The leafy stalk of the plant gives rise to male inflorescences or tassels which produce pollen, and female inflorescences called ears. The ears yield grain, known as kernels or seeds. In modern ...