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Competitive Agricultural Systems in Global Economy
Corn Gene Identification Project
Issue
Cereal crops are the staple of most human diets worldwide. To improve
crop yield and improve nutritive features in cereal crops, plant breeders
need to know more about how specific genes work. Until recently, no
one has ever attempted to characterize all of the genes in a single
cereal crop.
What has been done?
In 1998 plant scientists from the UA and five other universities won
a 5-year, $12 million grant from the NSF to discover all 50,000 genes
in corn, the nation''s most important economic crop.
The scientists are using a new method for discovering and sequencing
genes in corn, and are sharing project findings and material resources
with public and private researchers working to develop improved traits
in corn and many other agronomically important grasses, such as wheat,
barley, rice and oats. Additional tools developed by this project will
enable scientists to learn where and when each gene is active and how
the gene functions. The corn genomics project is expected to lead to
greater fundamental genetic understanding of cereals that worldwide
contribute roughly 70 percent of the calories in the human diet. University
of Arizona molecular geneticists have characterized about 25,000 corn
genes thus far.
Impact
As the sequence of each targeted gene is characterized, UA researchers
have entered this information into a computer database where plant breeders,
plant genetic engineers and researchers in basic biology around the
world are accessing this information so they can use these genes to
learn more about how plants work. Slides, gene libraries and seed containing
the mutated genes are available to the scientific community. The project
is already having major benefits for plant research around the world,
according to the researchers. Several thousand people are requesting
these genes, and other resources.
Funding
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Contact
Vicki Chandler, professor
Department of Plant Sciences
The University of Arizona
P.O. Box 210036
Tucson, AZ 85721-0036
Tel. (520) 626-8725, FAX (520) 621-7186
Email: chandler@ag.arizona.edu
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