A new study led by University of Illinois scientists reveals critically-small genetic variation in one of the country’s primary breeding stocks for corn. The finding relates specifically to grain yield in intermediate-maturity hybrids, which dominate commercial production in the United States and represent almost a third of the world’s corn production.
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Corn hybrids headed for emergency
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Jenifer Camila Godoy dos Santos and Martin Bohn do research in a cornfield.
Martin Bohn, a corn breeder and crop-sciences professor at the University of Illinois, says, “(Genetic variety is) important because if we don’t have variation, then we don’t make progress. Without variation, we can’t adapt our germplasm to changing growing conditions, climate change, or diseases that might come up."
Researchers say corn breeders should take purposeful steps to reintroduce genetic variability into the breeding pool.
Researchers grew 162 single-cross hybrids in more than 30 U.S. and Canadian locations, gathering phenotypic data across maturity groups. Then they handed that mountain of data to computational experts Jenifer Camila Godoy dos Santos, a postdoctoral researcher, and Alex Lipka, a statistical geneticist and professor of biometry, at the University of Illinois.
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