Content preview: Anyone who has seen teosinte, the wild grass from which maize
(corn) evolved, might be forgiven for assuming many genetic changes underlie
the transformation of one plant to the other. However, a method for exploring
the genetics of domestication called Quantitative Trait Locus (QTL) mapping
has revealed that only modest modifications are needed to convert a wild
plant to a crop plant. Some major transitions in phenotype can even be achieved
by a single genetic change. [...]