{"id":2151,"date":"2019-05-27T17:30:36","date_gmt":"2019-05-27T09:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/?p=2151"},"modified":"2019-05-27T17:30:36","modified_gmt":"2019-05-27T09:30:36","slug":"corns-ancient-ancestor-swipes-left-crossbreeding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2019\/05\/27\/corns-ancient-ancestor-swipes-left-crossbreeding\/","title":{"rendered":"How corn\u2019s ancient ancestor swipes left on crossbreeding"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Determining how one species becomes distinct from another has been a subject of fascination dating back to Charles Darwin. New research led by Carnegie\u2019s Matthew Evans and published in\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-019-10259-0\"><em>Nature Communications<\/em><\/a>\u00a0elucidates the mechanism that keeps maize distinct from its ancient ancestor grass, teosinte.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Speciation requires isolation. Sometimes this isolation is facilitated by geography, such as mountains chains or islands that divide two populations and prevent them from interbreeding until they become different species. But in other instances, the barriers separating species are physiological factors that prevent them from successfully mating, or from producing viable offspring.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cIn plants, this genetic isolation can be maintained by features that prevent the \u2018male\u2019 pollen of one species from successfully fertilizing the \u2018female\u2019 pistil of another species,\u201d explained Evans.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">About 9,000 years ago, maize, or corn, was domesticated from teosinte in the Balsas River Valley of Mexico. Some populations of the two grasses are compatible for breeding. But others grow in the same areas and flower at the same time, but rarely produce hybrids.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It was known that a cluster of genes called Tcb1-s is one of three that confers incompatibility between these rarely hybridizing maize and teosinte populations. Unlike the other two, it is found almost exclusively in wild teosinte. It contains both male and female genes that encode wild teosinte\u2019s ability to reject maize pollen.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In sexually compatible plants, the pollen, which is basically a sperm delivery vehicle, lands on the pistil and forms a tube that elongates and burrows down into the ovary, where the egg is fertilized. But that\u2019s not what happens when maize pollen lands on the pistil, or silk, of a wild teosinte plant.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Evans and his colleagues\u2014Carnegie\u2019s Yongxian Lu (the first author), Samuel Hokin, and Thomas Hartwig, along with Jerry Kermicle of the University of Wisconsin Madison\u2014demonstrated that the Tcb1-female gene encodes a protein that is capable of modifying cell walls, likely making maize pollen tubes less elastic and thus preventing them from reaching the teosinte eggs. When these tubes can\u2019t stretch all the way to the eggs, fertilization can\u2019t occur, and hybrids won\u2019t be possible.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">What\u2019s more, because teosinte pollen can fertilize itself, the researchers think that the Tcb1-male genes encode an ability that allows teosinte pollen to overcome this pollen tube barrier building.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cMost plants that depend on wind and water, not birds or insects, for pollination have low species diversity,\u201d said Evans. \u201cBut not grasses, which makes their evolutionary history particularly interesting.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\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-6632.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Carnegie Institution for Science<\/a><\/span><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Determining how one species becomes distinct from another has been a subject of fascination dating back to Charles Darwin. New research led by Carnegie\u2019s Matthew Evans and published in\u00a0Nature Communications\u00a0elucidates the mechanism that keeps maize distinct from its ancient ancestor grass, teosinte. \u00a0 Speciation requires isolation. Sometimes this isolation is facilitated by geography, such as&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2019\/05\/27\/corns-ancient-ancestor-swipes-left-crossbreeding\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">How corn\u2019s ancient ancestor swipes left on crossbreeding<\/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-2151","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>How corn\u2019s ancient ancestor swipes left on crossbreeding - 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\/27\/corns-ancient-ancestor-swipes-left-crossbreeding\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How corn\u2019s ancient ancestor swipes left on crossbreeding - agrinoon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Determining how one species becomes distinct from another has been a subject of fascination dating back to Charles Darwin. New research led by Carnegie\u2019s Matthew Evans and published in\u00a0Nature Communications\u00a0elucidates the mechanism that keeps maize distinct from its ancient ancestor grass, teosinte. \u00a0 Speciation requires isolation. Sometimes this isolation is facilitated by geography, such as&hellip; Continue reading How corn\u2019s ancient ancestor swipes left on crossbreeding\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2019\/05\/27\/corns-ancient-ancestor-swipes-left-crossbreeding\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"agrinoon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-05-27T09:30:36+00:00\" \/>\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\/27\/corns-ancient-ancestor-swipes-left-crossbreeding\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2019\/05\/27\/corns-ancient-ancestor-swipes-left-crossbreeding\/\",\"name\":\"How corn\u2019s ancient ancestor swipes left on crossbreeding - agrinoon\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-05-27T09:30:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-05-27T09:30:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/#\/schema\/person\/535254a24a4e1135afec5bcc244a5a8c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2019\/05\/27\/corns-ancient-ancestor-swipes-left-crossbreeding\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2019\/05\/27\/corns-ancient-ancestor-swipes-left-crossbreeding\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2019\/05\/27\/corns-ancient-ancestor-swipes-left-crossbreeding\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How corn\u2019s ancient ancestor swipes left on crossbreeding\"}]},{\"@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":"How corn\u2019s ancient ancestor swipes left on crossbreeding - 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\/27\/corns-ancient-ancestor-swipes-left-crossbreeding\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How corn\u2019s ancient ancestor swipes left on crossbreeding - agrinoon","og_description":"Determining how one species becomes distinct from another has been a subject of fascination dating back to Charles Darwin. New research led by Carnegie\u2019s Matthew Evans and published in\u00a0Nature Communications\u00a0elucidates the mechanism that keeps maize distinct from its ancient ancestor grass, teosinte. \u00a0 Speciation requires isolation. Sometimes this isolation is facilitated by geography, such as&hellip; Continue reading How corn\u2019s ancient ancestor swipes left on crossbreeding","og_url":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2019\/05\/27\/corns-ancient-ancestor-swipes-left-crossbreeding\/","og_site_name":"agrinoon","article_published_time":"2019-05-27T09:30:36+00:00","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\/27\/corns-ancient-ancestor-swipes-left-crossbreeding\/","url":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2019\/05\/27\/corns-ancient-ancestor-swipes-left-crossbreeding\/","name":"How corn\u2019s ancient ancestor swipes left on crossbreeding - agrinoon","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-05-27T09:30:36+00:00","dateModified":"2019-05-27T09:30:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/#\/schema\/person\/535254a24a4e1135afec5bcc244a5a8c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2019\/05\/27\/corns-ancient-ancestor-swipes-left-crossbreeding\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2019\/05\/27\/corns-ancient-ancestor-swipes-left-crossbreeding\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2019\/05\/27\/corns-ancient-ancestor-swipes-left-crossbreeding\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How corn\u2019s ancient ancestor swipes left on crossbreeding"}]},{"@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\/2151","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=2151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2151\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}