Tiny genetic tweak unlocked corn kernels during domestication
Monday, July 13, 2015 - 18:30
in Biology & Nature
Left: Teosinte ear; right: corn ear; center: ear from the first generation hybrid of a cross between teosinte and corn. If not for a single genetic mutation, each kernel on a juicy corn cob would be trapped inside a inedible casing as tough as a walnut shell. The mutation switches one amino acid for another at a specific position in a protein regulating formation of these shells in modern corn's wild ancestor, according to a study published in the July 2015 issue of GENETICS, a publication of the Genetics Society of America.