Preserving Maize Genetic Diversity
Topic
Resource Type
Duration
00:09:09Description
This video follows germplasm bank coordinator Cristian Zavala Espinosa and geneticist Sarah Hearne, who are part of the global effort to preserve the genetic diversity of maize (corn).
Zavala Espinosa and his colleagues at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo or CIMMYT) in Mexico protect the diversity of maize by storing seeds and cataloging more than 28,000 different native varieties. Researchers such as Hearne use valuable genetic information about the maize stored here to identify genetic traits that may protect maize crops as climates shift.
An audio descriptive version of the film is available via our media player.
Key Terms
agriculture, allele frequency, genome, germination, Indigenous farming, nucleotide, seed bank, selective breeding, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), teosinte
Primary Literature
Gates, Daniel J., Dan Runcie, Garret M. Janzen, Alberto Romero Navarro, Martha Wilcox, Kai Sonder, Samantha J. Snodgrass, et al. 2019. “Single-gene resolution of locally adaptive genetic variation in Mexican maize.” Preprint, submitted July 18, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1101/706739.
Terms of Use
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Accessibility Level (WCAG compliance)
Version History
NGSS 2013
LS1.A, LS3.B, LS4.C, LS4.D
AP Biology 2019
EVO-1, IST-1, SYI-3
IB Biology 2016
3.1, 3.4, 3.5, B.2, B.5, C.4
AP Environmental Science 2020
2.6, 9.10
IB Environmental Systems and Societies 2017
3.2, 3.4, 7.2, 7.3
Vision and Change 2009
CC1, CC3