The ubiquitous ascomycete Fusarium verticillioides causes ear rot and stalk rot of maize, both of which reduce grain quality and yield. Additionally, F. verticillioides produces the mycotoxin fumonisin B1 (FB1) during infection of maize kernels, and thus potentially compromises human and animal health. The current knowledge is fragmentary regarding the regulation of FB1 biosynthesis, particular...

BACKGROUND Fusarium species are among the most common fungi present in the environment and some species have emerged as major opportunistic fungal infection in human. However, in immunocompromised hosts they can be virulent pathogens and can cause death. The pathogenesis of this infection relies on three factors: colonization, tissue damage, and immunosuppression. A novel Fusarium species is re...

We are using the maize leaf as an experimental system to ask how positional information establishes the proximal/distal axis. A mature maize leaf has three regions, the distal blade that functions in photosynthesis, the proximal sheath that wraps the stalk, and the ligule, marking a sharp boundary between blade and sheath. The recessive liguleless mutants remove the ligule, but the distinction ...

Ultra-microfluorometric techniques were adapted to follow the time sequence of glycogen degradation during the differentiation of two cell types in Dictyostelium discoideum. Glycogen content, glycogen phosphorylase activity, and inorganic phosphate accumulation were localized in specific cell types during stalk and spore development. Glycogen levels in pre-stalk cells remained constant during t...

Probenazole (3-allyloxy-1,2-benzothiazole 1,1-dioxide, PBZ) is a bactericide and fungicide that acts by inducing plant defense systems. It has been shown to induce the expression of NBS-LRR genes like RPR1 (rice probenazole-response gene) in rice (Oryza sativa L.) and systemic acquired resistance (SAR)-like disease resistance. Two maize (Zea mays L.) genes Zmnbslrr1 (a NBS-LRR gene, cloned from...

We are using the maize leaf as an experimental system to ask how positional information establishes the proximal/distal axis. A mature maize leaf has three regions, the distal blade that functions in photosynthesis, the proximal sheath that wraps the stalk, and the ligule, marking a sharp boundary between blade and sheath. The recessive liguleless mutants remove the ligule, but the distinction ...

The stalk, ear and root rot (SERR) of maize caused by Fusarium verticillioides (Fv) severely impacts crop production in tropical and subtropical regions. The aim of the present work was to screen bacterial isolates in order to find novel native biocontrol agents against Fv. A culturable bacterial collection consisting of 11,520 isolates enriched in Firmicutes and Proteobacteria was created from...

We are using the maize leaf as an experimental system to ask how positional information establishes the proximal/distal axis. A mature maize leaf has three regions, the distal blade that functions in photosynthesis, the proximal sheath that wraps the stalk, and the ligule, marking a sharp boundary between blade and sheath. The recessive liguleless mutants remove the ligule, but the distinction ...

The use of temperate maize (Zea mays L.) inbreds with expired Plant Variety Protection in tropical breeding programs could enhance the combining ability for grain yield among heterotic groups. We used DNA markers from DArTseq genotyping-by-sequencing platform to investigate genetic structure lines U.S. (ex-PVP) relative International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center's (CIMMYT's) Neighbor-join...

Although maize is naturally an outcrossing organism, modern breeding utilizes highly inbred lines in controlled crosses to produce hybrids. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's reciprocal recurrent selection experiment between the Iowa Stiff Stalk Synthetic (BSSS) and the Iowa Corn Borer Synthetic No. 1 (BSCB1) populations represents one of the longest running experiments to understand the resp...