Oxford University researchers have captured a 'genetic snapshot' of maize as
it existed 10 million years ago when the plant doubled its genome. They then
traced how maize evolved to use these 'copied' genes to cope with the
pressures of domestication 12,000 years ago. The team discovered that these
copied genes were important to optimizing photosynthesis in maize leaves and
that early farmers selecting for them 'fuelled' the transformation of maize
into a high-yield crop.



Dr. Steve Kelly of Oxford University's Department of Plant Sciences, and
lead author of the report published in Genome Research said, "Although whole
genome duplication events are widespread in plants, finding evidence of
exactly how plants use this new 'toolbox' of copied genes is very
difficult." He added that they can now chart how the gene copies were first
acquired, then put to work, and finally 'whittled down' to create the modern
maize plant today.



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