Genetic fingerprint reveals new efficient maize cultivars
(PhysOrg.com) -- The parents performance has little to do with the child's success at least in maize. Even weak parent plants can be crossed in a way in which they produce vigorous offspring. But not all plants by far are suitable parents. Every single one has to prove its potential in time and cost intensive crossing experiments. Scientists Mark Stitt and Lothar Willmitzer from the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology, Potsdam, in collaboration with their colleagues Albrecht Melchinger, from the University of Hohenheim, and Thomas Altmann, from the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research in Gatersleben, wanted to speed up this process. Together they developed a mathematical model that predicts surprisingly well if a plant will make a good parent or not. The model is based on genomic information obtained from the maize kernels and the metabolic profile of the seedlings. The results will...