Maize (Zea mays L. ssp. mays), one of the most important agricultural crops in the world, originated by hybridization of two closely related progenitors. To investigate the fate of its genes after tetraploidization, we analyzed the sequence of five duplicated regions from different chromosomal locations. We also compared corresponding regions from sorghum and rice, two important crops that have...

A maize (Zea mays L. subsp. mays) diversity panel consisting of 26 maize lines exhibiting a wide range of cell-wall properties and responses to hydrolysis by cellulolytic enzymes was employed to investigate the relationship between cell-wall properties, cell-wall responses to mild NaOH pre-treatment, and enzymatic hydrolysis yields. Enzymatic hydrolysis of the cellulose in the untreated maize w...

We aimed to quantify the relative contributions of plant residue and organic manure to soil carbon sequestration. Using a 27-year-long inorganic fertilizer and manure amendment experiment in a maize (Zea mays L.) double-cropping system, we quantified changes in harvestable maize biomass and soil organic carbon stocks (0-20 cm depth) between 1986-2012. By employing natural (13)C tracing techniqu...

Cold-induced inhibition of CO(2) assimilation in maize (Zea mays L.) is associated with a persistent depression of the photochemical efficiency of PSII. However, very limited information is available on PSI photochemistry and PSI-dependent electron flow in cold-stressed maize. The extent of the absorbance change (ΔA(820)) used for in vivo quantitative estimation of photooxidizable P700(+) indic...

The alcohol dehydrogenase I (Adh1) gene of maize (Zea mays L.) was employed as a source of transcriptional, posttranscriptional, and translational regulatory sequences in the construction of an expression vector. By transforming the translation-initiating ATG and an ATG three triplets upstream from the translational termination triplet into NcoI sites (5'-CCATGG-3'), the maize Adh1 gene was con...

In maize (Zea mays L.), GSp1, the predominant GS isozyme of the developing kernel, is abundant in the pedicel and pericarp, but absent from the endosperm and embryo. Determinations of GSp1 tissue distribution in vegetative tissues have been limited thus far to root and leaves, where the isozyme is absent. However, the promoter from the gene encoding GSp1 has been shown to drive reporter gene ex...

Catalase isozymes of maize (Zea mays, L. hybrid Norma) were shown to differ in their sensitivity to phenolic compounds. Salicylic acid, benzoic acid, acetylsalicylic acid and o-coumaric acid caused significantly greater inhibition of CAT1 activity than of CAT2. The nature of inhibition was non-competitive for CAT1, while CAT2 was inhibited competitively. P-hydroxybenzoic acid (pHBA) was the onl...

Two Þeld experiments were conducted in 1995Ð1996 to determine if there are common photosynthetic and vegetative growth responses among genotypes of maize, Zea mays L., to larval western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte injury. SpeciÞc variables measured from rootworm infested and noninfested plants were midday leaf photosynthetic rate, plant growth stage, and plant height d...

Many studies on selective fertilization in maize, Zea mays L., have been reported since it was detected that genetic factor (s) linked to the de gene is responsible for distortion of segregation in F 2.2> On the other hand, some applications of the selective fertilization to maize breeding, i.e. prediction for combining abi lity of inbred lines or F1 seed production without using cytoplasmic ma...

Maize grain yield varies highly with water availability as well as with fertilization and relevant agricultural management practices. With a 311-A optimized saturation design, field experiments were conducted between 2006 and 2009 to examine the yield response of spring maize (Zhengdan 958, Zea mays L) to irrigation (I), nitrogen fertilization (total nitrogen, urea-46% nitrogen,) and phosphorus...