By Ed Coe (auth.), Jeffrey L. Bennetzen, Sarah Hake (eds.)

Handbook of Maize

Edited by means of Jeff Bennetzen and Sarah Hake

Maize is among the world’s maximum worth vegetation, with a multibillion greenback annual contribution to agriculture. the nice adaptability and excessive yield of maize as a nutrients, feed and forage crop have ended in its construction on a tremendous scale, with acreage increasing on the rate of different plants. Maize has built in its non-food utilization, comprising an immense resource of ethanol for gasoline within the usa. furthermore, maize has occupied middle degree within the transgenic plant controversy, serving as one of many first nutrition vegetation with commercialized transgenic kinds. the discharge of the genome series of maize in 2008 will point out the constitution and gene content material of the 1st average-size plant genome and may be the main complicated genome sequenced from any organism thus far.

Beyond its significant agricultural and financial contributions, maize has been a version species for genetics because it used to be the 1st plant to have a genetic map, at the beginning released via Emerson and associates in 1935. Such vital genetic phenomena as transposable parts, nucleolar organizers, telomeres and epigenetic gene law have been found first in maize, and later came upon to be common eukaryotic genome houses. those key genetic contributions proceed, together with taking the lead within the characterization of the evolution of the hugely risky genomes so universal in flowering crops.

Among plant technology researchers, maize has the second one greatest study group, trailing basically the Arabidopsis neighborhood. regardless of the scale and scope of this group, a accomplished publication at the biology of maize – focusing on genetics, genomics or total biology - has now not been released. consequently, a contemporary and entire quantity at the prestige (and destiny) of maize as a species for organic research is very warranted.

Handbook of Maize: Genetics and Genomics facilities at the prior, current and way forward for maize as a version for plant genetics and crop development. The publication contains chapters from the key maize specialists at the position of maize within the starting place of plant genetics, in glossy crop development and within the research of genome constitution, functionality and evolution.

Jeff Bennetzen, Ph.D. is the Norman and Doris Giles Professor of Molecular Biology and practical Genomics on the collage of Georgia, and can be a Georgia study Alliance Eminent pupil. He has studied the constitution and evolution of the maize genome for the final 28 years.

Sarah Hake, Ph.D. is the Director of the Plant Gene Expression middle of the us division of Agriculture – Agricultural study provider and college of California, Berkeley. She can be an accessory Professor within the division of Plant and Microbial Biology at U. C. Berkeley. She has labored on maize all through her clinical occupation.