{"id":2148,"date":"2019-05-24T17:20:20","date_gmt":"2019-05-24T09:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/?p=2148"},"modified":"2019-05-24T17:20:20","modified_gmt":"2019-05-24T09:20:20","slug":"genetic-discovery-may-improve-corn-quality-yields","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2019\/05\/24\/genetic-discovery-may-improve-corn-quality-yields\/","title":{"rendered":"Genetic discovery may improve corn quality, yields"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/img.agropages.com\/UserFiles\/FCKFile\/zkc_2019-05-24_07-28-35_893.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"314\" \/><\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>Corn in a Waksman Institute of Microbiology field in Piscataway, New Jersey. &#8211; Photo: Hugo Dooner\/Waksman Institute of Microbiology<br \/>\n<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">Researchers may be able to improve corn yields and nutritional value after discovering genetic regulators that synthesize starch and protein in the widely eaten grain, according to a Rutgers-led study.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The research,\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pnas.org\/content\/early\/2019\/05\/16\/1904995116\">published in the journal\u00a0<em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences<\/em><\/a>, could benefit millions of people who rely on corn for nutrition in South America, Africa and elsewhere.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The world\u2019s corn supply depends on improving its yield and quality, which relies on the accumulation of starch and proteins in the grain\u2019s endosperm, the study says. Endosperm, an important source of human nutrition that contains starch, oils and proteins, is the seed tissue that surrounds embryos.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cWe found a novel approach to discover new regulators in the synthesis of starch and protein, which determine grain yield and quality,\u201d said study lead author Zhiyong Zhang, a post-doctoral fellow at the Waksman Institute of Microbiology at Rutgers University\u2013New Brunswick.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The scientists discovered how corn starch and protein are simultaneously synthesized in the endosperm, which could allow them to find a good balance between nutrient quality and yield, Zhang said. Corn domestication and modern breeding have gradually increased starch content but decreased protein accumulation in endosperms.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The researchers looked at key proteins in corn kernels known as zeins, which are devoid of lysine, an essential amino acid (a building block of proteins), resulting in poor nutrient quality. During corn breeding over decades, people increased lysine content by cultivating corn with lower levels of zeins. Still, today\u2019s lysine levels are too low to meet the needs of the world\u2019s rapidly growing population.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">So, molecular geneticists and corn breeders are trying to dramatically reduce zein levels to improve corn nutrient quality by focusing on blocking them and so-called transcription factors. Transcription is when the information in a gene\u2019s DNA is transferred to RNA, resulting in proteins that play key roles in the body\u2019s tissues, organs, structure and functions.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The research team found that two transcription factors play key roles in regulating the synthesis of starch and protein, paving the way for further research to fully understand the balance between nutrient quality and yield at a molecular level.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Rutgers co-authors include post-doctoral fellow Jiaqiang Dong and senior author Joachim Messing, director of the Waksman Institute. Scientists at the Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology &amp; Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences contributed to the study.<\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"tl clearfix mt10\">\n<h4 class=\"p-source c-999 cb pt5\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Source<\/strong>:\u00a0<a class=\"c-orange fs16\" style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"http:\/\/news.agropages.com\/Media\/MediaIndex-4292.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rutgers University<\/a><\/span><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Corn in a Waksman Institute of Microbiology field in Piscataway, New Jersey. &#8211; Photo: Hugo Dooner\/Waksman Institute of Microbiology Researchers may be able to improve corn yields and nutritional value after discovering genetic regulators that synthesize starch and protein in the widely eaten grain, according to a Rutgers-led study. \u00a0 The research,\u00a0published in the journal\u00a0Proceedings&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2019\/05\/24\/genetic-discovery-may-improve-corn-quality-yields\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Genetic discovery may improve corn quality, yields<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-industry-news","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Genetic discovery may improve corn quality, yields - agrinoon<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2019\/05\/24\/genetic-discovery-may-improve-corn-quality-yields\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Genetic discovery may improve corn quality, yields - agrinoon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Corn in a Waksman Institute of Microbiology field in Piscataway, New Jersey. &#8211; Photo: Hugo Dooner\/Waksman Institute of Microbiology Researchers may be able to improve corn yields and nutritional value after discovering genetic regulators that synthesize starch and protein in the widely eaten grain, according to a Rutgers-led study. \u00a0 The research,\u00a0published in the journal\u00a0Proceedings&hellip; Continue reading Genetic discovery may improve corn quality, yields\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2019\/05\/24\/genetic-discovery-may-improve-corn-quality-yields\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"agrinoon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-05-24T09:20:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/img.agropages.com\/UserFiles\/FCKFile\/zkc_2019-05-24_07-28-35_893.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2019\/05\/24\/genetic-discovery-may-improve-corn-quality-yields\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2019\/05\/24\/genetic-discovery-may-improve-corn-quality-yields\/\",\"name\":\"Genetic discovery may improve corn quality, yields - agrinoon\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-05-24T09:20:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-05-24T09:20:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/#\/schema\/person\/535254a24a4e1135afec5bcc244a5a8c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2019\/05\/24\/genetic-discovery-may-improve-corn-quality-yields\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2019\/05\/24\/genetic-discovery-may-improve-corn-quality-yields\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2019\/05\/24\/genetic-discovery-may-improve-corn-quality-yields\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Genetic discovery may improve corn quality, yields\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/\",\"name\":\"agrinoon\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/#\/schema\/person\/535254a24a4e1135afec5bcc244a5a8c\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/727d38bbce271274ba21a10196f68d0e97dc7f36482cf2ddd1a056ba4ac20386?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/727d38bbce271274ba21a10196f68d0e97dc7f36482cf2ddd1a056ba4ac20386?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/s691948366.onlinehome.us\/demo\/agrinoon\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Genetic discovery may improve corn quality, yields - agrinoon","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2019\/05\/24\/genetic-discovery-may-improve-corn-quality-yields\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Genetic discovery may improve corn quality, yields - agrinoon","og_description":"Corn in a Waksman Institute of Microbiology field in Piscataway, New Jersey. &#8211; Photo: Hugo Dooner\/Waksman Institute of Microbiology Researchers may be able to improve corn yields and nutritional value after discovering genetic regulators that synthesize starch and protein in the widely eaten grain, according to a Rutgers-led study. \u00a0 The research,\u00a0published in the journal\u00a0Proceedings&hellip; Continue reading Genetic discovery may improve corn quality, yields","og_url":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2019\/05\/24\/genetic-discovery-may-improve-corn-quality-yields\/","og_site_name":"agrinoon","article_published_time":"2019-05-24T09:20:20+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/img.agropages.com\/UserFiles\/FCKFile\/zkc_2019-05-24_07-28-35_893.jpg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2019\/05\/24\/genetic-discovery-may-improve-corn-quality-yields\/","url":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2019\/05\/24\/genetic-discovery-may-improve-corn-quality-yields\/","name":"Genetic discovery may improve corn quality, yields - agrinoon","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-05-24T09:20:20+00:00","dateModified":"2019-05-24T09:20:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/#\/schema\/person\/535254a24a4e1135afec5bcc244a5a8c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2019\/05\/24\/genetic-discovery-may-improve-corn-quality-yields\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2019\/05\/24\/genetic-discovery-may-improve-corn-quality-yields\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2019\/05\/24\/genetic-discovery-may-improve-corn-quality-yields\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Genetic discovery may improve corn quality, yields"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/","name":"agrinoon","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/#\/schema\/person\/535254a24a4e1135afec5bcc244a5a8c","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/727d38bbce271274ba21a10196f68d0e97dc7f36482cf2ddd1a056ba4ac20386?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/727d38bbce271274ba21a10196f68d0e97dc7f36482cf2ddd1a056ba4ac20386?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/s691948366.onlinehome.us\/demo\/agrinoon"],"url":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2148\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}