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- Introduction
- 1. The Modern Corn Plant
- 2. Theories on the Origin of Maize
- The Pod-Corn Theory
- The Teosinte Theory
- The Theory of a Common Ancestry
- Minor Theories
- The Tripartite Theory
- Tripsacum a Hybrid of Maize and Manisuris
- Geographical Origins
- 3. Teosinte, the Closest Relative of Maize
- Historical Records
- Botanical Relationships
- Nomenclature and Taxonomy
- Geographical Distribution
- Morphology
- Physiological Characteristics
- Chemical Analyses
- Resemblances in Teosinte and Maize Chromosomes
- Sterility of F1 Hybrids
- Races of Teosinte
- Teosinte’s Role in the Origin of Maize
- 4. The Genetic Nature of Teosinte
- Early Experiments on Maize–Teosinte Hybrids
- Crossing over between Maize and Teosinte Chromosomes
- Linkages of Genetic Differences with Marker Genes
- Additional Linkage Experiments
- Genetic Differences between Teosinte Varieties
- Extracting Blocks of Genes from Teosinte
- Linkage Relations of Extracted Blocks of Genes
- A Second Cycle of Transferring Blocks of Genes
- Polygene Segments as Supergenes
- Failure to Reconstitute Teosinte
- Mendelian Segregation in F2 Generations
- Five Races of Teosinte Analyzed
- What Is Teosinte?
- Criticisms of the Theory of the Hybrid Origin of Teosinte
- Alternative Possibilities
- 5. Tripsacum, a More Distant Relative of Corn
- Descriptions of the Species
- Cytology of Tripsacum Species
- Crossing Relationships
- Zea × T. dactyloides (2n)
- A Comparison of Diploid and Triploid Hybrids of Zea and Tripsacum with the Parental Genera
- The Progeny of the Triploid Hybrid
- Crossing Over between Maize and Tripsacum Chromosomes
- The Trigenomic Hybrid of Zea, Tripsacum, and Teosinte
- Failure to Hybridize Teosinte × Tripsacum
- 6. Corn’s Old World Relatives
- Crossing Relationships
- Other Andropogoneae Possibly Related to Maize
- 7. Pod Corn, the Ancestral Form
- History of Pod Corn
- An Experimental Verification of an Historical Reference
- Other Early References
- Pod Corn on Uniform Genetic Backgrounds
- Various Expressions of the Pod-Corn Locus
- Producing a Fertile, True-breeding Pod Corn
- The Genetically Reconstructed Ancestral Form, the First Model
- The Reconstructed Ancestral Form in a Simulated Wild Habitat
- 8. The Nature of the Pod-Corn Locus
- The Locus Dissected and Reconstructed
- Postscript to the Dissection Experiment
- A Comparison of Tu-tu Genotypes in Isogenic Stocks
- Characteristics of Additional Genotypes at the Tu-tu Locus
- The Components of Wild Corn
- Wild Corn a Pod Corn
- The Genetically Reconstructed Ancestral Form: Later Models
- A Tuncinate Teosinte
- 9. Races of Maize
- Previous Classifications of Maize
- Other Countries Follow Mexico’s Example
- The Pointed Popcorns
- The Sweet Corns
- 10. The Concept of Lineages
- Eight-Rowed Corn
- Kculli
- The Chapalote-Nal-Tel-Pollo Complex
- Pira Naranja
- Chromosome Knobs of Races of Maize
- Summary
- 11. The Role of Hybridization in Corn’s Evolution
- Interracial Hybridization
- Hybridization of Maize and Teosinte
- Anatomical Evidence of Teosinte Introgression
- Archaeological Evidence of Teosinte or Tripsacum Introgression
- The Evidence of Introgression from Tripsacum
- Cryptic Genes for Tripsacoid Characteristics in Latin-American Races of Maize
- 12. Mutations
- The Mutagenic Effects of Hybridizing Maize and Teosinte
- Mutations in Long-Inbred Strains of Maize
- Introgression and Mutation Systems
- Summary
- 13. Genetic Drift and Selection
- Waxy Maize
- Flour and Sweet Corns
- Gene Frequencies in Mexico and United States
- Natural and Artificial Selection
- Summary
- 14. Archaeological Evidence of Corn’s Evolution
- Bat Cave, New Mexico
- Radiocarbon and Other Dating
- Bat Cave Revisited
- La Perra Cave, Northeastern Mexico
- The Caves of Infiernillo Canyon, Mexico
- Swallow and Other Caves, Northwestern Mexico
- Richards’ Caves and Tonto Monument, Arizona
- Cebollita Cave, New Mexico
- Spread of an Eight-Rowed Maize from Mexico and the Southwest
- Summary
- 15. Prehistoric Wild Corn and Fossil Pollen
- Remains of Prehistoric Wild Corn
- Coxcatlan and Purron Caves
- El Riego Cave
- San Marcos and Tecorral Caves
- Cultural Zones and Dating
- The Remains of Maize
- The Nature of Wild Corn
- Early Cultivated Corn
- Hybridization Plays a Role
- Corn at the Time of Christ
- Wild Corn Reconstructed
- Fossil Pollen
- Summary
- 16. Corn in Prehistoric Art
- 17. Corn’s Spread to the Old World
- Pre-Columbian Maize in Asia?
- New “Evidence” on Prehistoric Maize in India
- Pre-Columbian Corn in Africa?
- Pre-Columbian Maize in the Phillipines?
- Pre-Columbian Corn in Europe?
- 18. The Prehistoric and Modern Improvement of Maize
- Corn Breeding before Columbus
- Pre-Columbian Hybridization
- Corn Breeding in Early Historical Times
- The Period of the Corn Shows
- Ear-to-Row Breeding
- The History of Hybrid Corn
- 19. The Nature of Heterosis
- Dominance of Linked Factors
- Overdominance
- Epistasis
- Genic Balance a Factor in Heterosis
- Heterosis and Genetic Homeostasis
- Inbreeding Depression in Maize
- Inbreeding Depression in Popcorns
- Inbreeding Depression in Teosinte
- Types of Heterosis in Maize
- Evidence of Overdominance
- Evidence for Epistasis
- Agreement between Mathematical and Biological Models
- 20. Modern Breeding Techniques
- Convergent Improvement
- Recurrent Selection
- Gamete Selection
- Homozygous Lines from Monoploids and Parthenogenetic Diploids
- The Oenothera Method of Establishing Homozygous Lines
- The Use of Exotic Germ Plasm
- Inventory of Exotic Races
- Using Exotic Races
- Using Exotic Germ Plasm from Diverse Sources
- The Use of Cytoplasmic Male Sterility
- Breeding Corn for Improved Protein Quality
- Bibliography
- Index