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Wheat, rye, and barley on the cob?

Nature Biotechnology volume 20, pages 337–338 (2002)Cite this article

To the editor:

Modern domesticated maize (Zea mays) provides about 21% of global human nutrition1. The plant is robust and productive. The major product of maize (except for forage) is the seeds formed on thick, long cobs. These typical cobs appeared several millennia ago when maize became domesticated, probably in southern Mexico2,3. Given the similarity of the wild female maize spike to the spike structure of wheat, rye, and barley, we propose that these major crops could be engineered with cobs resembling those of modern maize.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Science Education, University of Haifa – Oranim, Tivon, 36006, Israel

    Simcha Lev-Yadun

  2. Department of Field Crops, Vegetables and Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture and Environmental Quality, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, 76100, Israel

    Shahal Abbo

  3. Laboratory of Genetics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 53706, WI

    John Doebley

Authors
  1. Simcha Lev-Yadun
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  2. Shahal Abbo
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  3. John Doebley
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Lev-Yadun, S., Abbo, S. & Doebley, J. Wheat, rye, and barley on the cob?. Nat Biotechnol 20, 337–338 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0402-337b

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