US researchers to map genomes of corn
Iowa State University scientists will contribute to a new effort to map the genomes of 26 lines of corn.
Researchers at the University of Georgia, Iowa State University and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York will work together to sequence, assemble and annotate 26 different lines chosen to represent the diversity of corn.
This ambitious project that will allow plant breeders and farmers to harness the crop’s vast genetic diversity, referred to as corn’s pangenome. The National Science Foundation has funded the research with a $ 2.9 million grant over two years, of which about $ 250,000 will support work at Iowa State.
Matthew Hufford, an ISU assistant professor of ecology, evolution and organismal biology whose lab will take part in the project said: “We might find totally new candidates for improving crops that could have been entirely missed up to this point, and that’s part of what’s really exciting about this work.”
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