Tiny Genetic Tweak Unlocked Corn Kernels During Domestication
Monday, July 13, 2015 - 09:40
in Biology & Nature
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.