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Nature Reviews Genetics 10, 592–593 (1 September 2009) | doi:10.1038/nrg2659

Plant genetics: Exploring the maize of genetic variation

Meera Swami

Understanding the basis of genetic variation for desirable agronomic traits in the staple food source Zea mays (maize) is important for crop improvement and for developing maize as a model for complex traits. Two new studies describe the construction and potential applications of a new resource for mapping quantitative traits in maize, illustrating that it can be used for dissecting the genetic architecture of important traits, such as flowering time.