Two teosintes made modern maize

2023/11/30 by Ning Yang, Yuebin Wang, Xiangguo Liu +27 · 1 voice · 160 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Agronomy #Archaeology and ancient environmental studies #Biological dispersal #Biology #Demography #Domestication #Ecology #Evolutionary biology #Genetic Mapping and Diversity in Plants and Animals #Genetic diversity #Genetic diversity and population structure #Genetic variation #Genetics #Geography #Population #Sociology #Zea mays

paper · doi:10.1126/science.adg8940

published in Science 382(6674), eadg8940 (American Association for the Advancement of Science)

openalex publication_date 2023/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06

Abstract

The origins of maize were the topic of vigorous debate for nearly a century, but neither the current genetic model nor earlier archaeological models account for the totality of available data, and recent work has highlighted the potential contribution of a wild relative, Zea mays ssp. mexicana . Our population genetic analysis reveals that the origin of modern maize can be traced to an admixture between ancient maize and Zea mays ssp. mexicana in the highlands of Mexico some 4000 years after domestication began. We show that variation in admixture is a key component of maize diversity, both at individual loci and for additive genetic variation underlying agronomic traits. Our results clarify the origin of modern maize and raise new questions about the anthropogenic mechanisms underlying dispersal throughout the Americas.

Citations

• Preceramic maize from Paredones and Huaca Prieta, Peru
• Complex Patterns of Local Adaptation in Teosinte

Cited by

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• Hybrid origin and phenotype evolution of the modern maize
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• Integrating Arabidopsis and crop species gene discovery for crop improvement
• Variation in responses to temperature in admixed Populus genotypes predicts geographic shifts in regions where hybrids are favored
• The blue light receptor ZmFKF1a recruits ZmGI1 to the nucleus to accelerate shoot apex development and flowering in maize
• Insights into the genomic divergence of maize heterotic groups in China
• Going New Places: Successful Adaptation and Genomic Integrity of Grain Amaranth in India
• Designing a nitrogen-efficient cold-tolerant maize for modern agricultural systems
• Identificación de poblaciones de teosinte resistentes al clima para ayudar a la adaptación del maíz en el futuro
• Diamonds in the not-so-rough: Wild relative diversity hidden in crop genomes. [europepmc]
• Genetic Incompatibilities and Evolutionary Rescue by Wild Relatives Shaped Grain Amaranth Domestication. [europepmc]
• Hotspot Regions of Quantitative Trait Loci and Candidate Genes for Ear-Related Traits in Maize: A Literature Review. [europepmc]
• Cytoplasmic genome contributions to domestication and improvement of modern maize. [europepmc]
• Needs for a conceptual bridge between biological domestication and early food globalization. [europepmc]
• Natural variations of heterosis-related allele-specific expression genes in promoter regions lead to allele-specific expression in maize. [europepmc]
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• Breeding for improved digestibility and processing of lignocellulosic biomass in Zea mays . [europepmc]
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• Unveiling Photoperiod-Responsive Regulatory Networks in Tropical Maize Through Transcriptome Analysis. [europepmc]
• Genotyping by sequencing reveals the genetic diversity and population structure of Peruvian highland maize races. [europepmc]
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• Local Selection Shaped the Diversity of European Maize Landraces. [europepmc]
• Phylogeography of introgression: Spatial and temporal analyses identify two introgression events between brown and American black bears. [europepmc]
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• Conflicting Kinesin-14s in a single chromosomal drive haplotype. [europepmc]
• 50 years of breeding to improve yield: how maize stands up to climate change. [europepmc]
• Designing a nitrogen-efficient cold-tolerant maize for modern agricultural systems. [europepmc]
• The blue light receptor ZmFKF1a recruits ZmGI1 to the nucleus to accelerate shoot apex development and flowering in maize. [europepmc]
• Variation in responses to temperature in admixed Populus genotypes predicts geographic shifts in regions where hybrids are favored. [europepmc]
• Plant domestication revisited: Genomic insights into origins, mechanisms, and convergent evolution. [europepmc]
• Resolving sampling and population-size biases in domestication genomics supports a South Asian origin of walnuts. [europepmc]
• Multi-isotope analysis of mammal bones provides environmental context for the adoption of agriculture in the Tehuacan Valley of Mexico. [europepmc]
• A different perspective on food and well-being in migrant-founded communities: seeing a Oaxacalifornia food system. [europepmc]

Discussions

• Admixture of a second wild teosinte from Mexico in addition to parviglumis contributed beneficial genes for domestication of modern maize. @jrossibarra.bsky.social Paper: doi.org/10.1126/science.adg8 [bsky, 32 points, 1 comments]

Related

• Hybrid origin and phenotype evolution of the modern maize
• An ancient origin of the naked grains of maize
• Preceramic maize from Paredones and Huaca Prieta, Peru
• The development and domestication of maize ear
• Long-distance gene flow and recombination shape the evolutionary history of a maize pathogen