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Teosinte is photoperiod sensitive (i.e. floral initiation requires short days).
Teosinte in Missouri (long day environment), 4 months after planting
Teosinte in Puerto Rico (day neutral environment), 7 weeks after planting.
Teosinte in the growth chamber (12hr light; 12hr dark), 6 weeks after planting.
The B73-teosinte F1 is very unadapted, but backcrossing quickly recovers B73 phenotypes.
Seeds of B73 (left), teosinte (right)
B73 (left), teosite (middle), and the F1 hybrid (right) when grown in Missouri.
F1 ear of B73 x teosinte. The cob will "shatter" with minimal pressure. Note the seed "squeezing" out the top of the partially open fruitcase.
The F1 plant is very late (photoperiod sensitive) and tillered when grown in Missouri.
The F1 plant is highly branched. Lateral branches often end in male flowers, and there are many ears per plant.
A sample of BC1 ears (left) compared to B73 (right).
Diversity within maize inbreds: the NAM founder parents.
We've created some diverse synthetic populations for testing QTL models and conducting breeding experiments.
NAM Synthetic: The 27 NAM founders were recombined to make the NAM-Synthetic.
NAM Synthetic: Individual ear phenotypes span the full range for kernel type and color, and ear shape and size.
Teosinte Synthetic: Derived by random mating BC1 plants from 11 parviglumis accessions in the B73 background, the Teo-synthetic is 75% B73 and 25% teosinte. Not very pretty, but should be interesting!
Naturally, we've crossed the Teosinte Synthetic and NAM Synthetic together to create the Zea Synthetic, which is the starting material for the SynAdapt Project
Landraces Are Adapted to Specific Daylengths
Here is a collection of landraces that originated from latitudes across the Americas, grown in Missouri. Landraces the came from tropical regions near the equator are very unadapted to Missouri. Likewise, landraces from the far north (Assiniboine) and far south (Cristalino Norteno) are also unadapted.
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