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Letter

Nature Genetics 38, 594–597 (1 May 2006) | doi:10.1038/ng1784

A distant upstream enhancer at the maize domestication gene tb1 has pleiotropic effects on plant and inflorescent architecture

Richard M Clark , Tina Nussbaum Wagler , Pablo Quijada & John Doebley

Although quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping has been successful in describing the genetic architecture of complex traits, the molecular basis of quantitative variation is less well understood, especially in plants such as maize that have large genome sizes. Regulatory changes at the teosinte branched1 (tb1) gene have been proposed to underlie QTLs of large effect for morphological differences that distinguish maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) from its wild ancestors, the teosintes (Z.