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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Tifton, Georgia » Crop Genetics and Breeding Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #80677
Title: THE MAYSIN CHRONICLE: BACKGROUND, IDENTIFICATION, QUANTIFICATION, AND INHERITANCE IN MAIZE SILKS

Author
item Widstrom, Neil
item SNOOK, M. - USDA-ARS (RETIREE)

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/29/1997
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Not Required.

Technical Abstract: The history of our experience with maysin, a C-glycosylflavone, its analogues, and related compounds in the silks of corn is the subject of this review. The development of research that led to the discovery, isolation, identification, and use of maysin as a compound with antibiosis toward the corn earworm is related. The initial research on the exploitation of maysin in corn silks to reduce injury in corn by insects has led to refined techniques in measurement, discovery of several related, biologically active compounds, and intense study of their inheritance as it relates to knowledge of the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway in silks and other corn tissues. Prior knowledge of flavonoid and plant pigment synthesis has helped in our understanding of flavonoid synthesis and has opened new heights for study of heterosis and other genetic processes in plant tissues.