The Maize-10-Maze Project
A field replicate of the maize pachytene cytogenic FISH map
Using classical genetics to illustrate gene and chromosome maps in corn.
About Maize-10-Maze
The Maize-10-Maze project is a type of living map of the maize genome in which 10 individual rows represent the 10 chromosomes of corn. We have selected nearly 100 different naturally-occurring mutants of maize that illustrate genetic control of plant growth and development. Mutants that have been mapped to chromosome 1 are in row 1, those mapped to chromosome 2 in row 2, and so on.
This event is open to the public and hosted by the high school student participants in the Forestry and Conservation Education (FACE) Summer Program, 2007, and the FAMU Research Farm in Quincy, FL.
Project Goals
The Maize-10-Maze project plans to use the new cytogenetic map to guide the production of a field replicate of the maize genome in which individual rows represent single chromosomes.
This self-guided public tour of the maize genome will raise public awareness of how plant genome research can benefit society, relating genome research to issues of public interest such as food production, plant biology, renewable energy, and genetic diversity.
This web site will be updated as we make progress toward our ultimate goal to represent the 10 chromosomes of maize in a 10 row field maze for the general public to explore in summer 2006 and again in summer 2007.
About Maize
Corn (also called maize; scientific name Zea mays) is among the most genetically variable crop plant species ever domesticated by humans. It has a recent and unstable genome with an extraordinary amount of variation in the population. The field contains families carrying ~100 different genetic mutations, each of which can cause a different, interesting, and sometimes bizarre phenotype (appearance). Many of these naturally-occuring mutants were discovered more than 50 years ago. It's like a botanical carnival freak show ... Step right up! See 6-inch dwarfs, zebra-striped plants, lesion mimics, ghost plants, the famous knotted and gnarley mutants, and a lab favorite, the lazy mutants, that would rather lie on the ground than stand up tall.
The maize genome has recently been chosen for sequencing (as the human genome was in the human genome project), a $32 million effort sponsored by the NSF, USDA, and DOE (press release). This field project is one part of a large national effort to characterize the architecture of the maize genome. We will present some famous and classical maize mutants that have been studied and used by genetics researchers and breeders for many decades. Come take a stroll through the mutants of maize. A free cookout lunch and cold drinks will be provided.
FSU events 2004, 2005
Here is place for the info for the fsu events that occured in 2004 and 2005
The FACE program
The Forestry and Conservation Education Summer Program is a three-week summer program with the objective of exposing blacks and members of other minorities to the scientific disciplines of forestry and natural-resource conservation, including the genetics of plants and related disciplines. This year, through a special NSF grant, Dr. Bass has worked with Dr. Onokpise and his colleagues to integrate the FSU Maize Genetics project into the FACE Summer Program. This outreach program is intended to expose minority students to aspects of maize (corn) production and management that they would otherwise not be aware of, thereby encouraging high school students in low-income counties to consider plant science as a future career not only in food production but also in forestry and natural-resource management.
FIELD 2004, Mission Road Field, FSU Biology, Tallahassee, FL
We grew out 120 mutant families and bulked seed this summer (2004) for the future Maize-10-Maze field.
Mutant Field Pictures from 2004 summer field
Robert Garbriel (above right),
one of the student field workers,
helps with photography.
Mutants selected by:
Marshawn Hay and Hank Bass
Mutant Photo Credits:
Karen Graffius, Field/plant photos
Bobbye Hill, staging
Maria Conejo, Ear photos
All Field Pictures -
renamed, unedited, in order of seed co-op stock number
Mutant Plant and Ear Photo Gallery, zmXmz_v4c
, grouped by BINs. KEY for plant/field picture names
(for example file name 1652_Hs1_701F_2966 )
1652 = HWB family number, from the field
Hs1 = Mutant name Hs1, for the Hairy Sheath1 mutant
701F= The maize seed stock center number, 701F (*more info below)
1652 = Camera picture number.
Ear Pics: Filenames start with family number and cross (e.g. 1652-2@_etc.jpg)
*
The Maize-10-Maze project is an FSU-FAMU collaborative effort presented by Dr. Hank Bass, Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, and by Drs. Kome Onokpise and Dreamal Worthen, College of Engineering Sciences, Technology & Agriculture (CESTA), Florida A&M University.
Note on source of maize mutants:
The mutants used for this project were selected from a large list of mutants
that were originally isolated by geneticists, breeders, and farmers
over the last 80 years.
Many of these are considered classical mutants, having been studied for years
to learn about the principles and mechanisms of genetics and heredity.
The mutant stocks are distributed to scientists and breeders through the Maize Genetics Cooperation Stock Center Catalog.
Almost all of the maize stocks were obtained by HWB for the
Maize-10-Maze project from the maize stock center in winter of 2003/04.
Contacts for the FACE program:
Dr. Oghenekome (Kome) U. Onokpise, Professor and FACE Summer Program Director.
E-mail address: oghenekome.onokpise@famu.edu or o.onokpise@worldnet.att.net
Phone: 850-561-2217/850-412-7044
Dr. Dreamal Worthen, Associate Professor and FACE Summer Program Codirector
Email address: dworthen@hotmail.com
Phone: 850-599-3440
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