Just when you wonder how corn yields could keep climbing like they have, biologists discover new genetic pathways. That’s the case with a recent discovery at New York’s Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. And it’s a strange one that could increase yields of corn and other staple crops by as much as 50%.

Plant biologists at CSHL discovered that emerging leaves communicate or send signals to stem cells in the corn plant’s growing tip. It’s a new pathway with potential to alter stem cell proliferation in the plant’s meristem. And CSHL Professor David Jackson, who leads the team, has proven that the “genetic tinkering” can profoundly change the plants. See accompanying photo.

PROMISING POTENTIAL UNCOVERED: B73 and W22 inbreds varieties (left) combine to produce a high-yielding hybrid (center). Hybrids (right) grown from weak gene alleles produced higher yields. Photo by Jackson/ CSHL

A simple explanation
We could bore you with the technical explanation. But it’s enough to say that the discovery has near-term implications for increasing the yield of corn and many other staple crops, perhaps by as much as 50%, according to Jackson.

Having that communications or feedback signal starting in the leaves is new. By growing plants with so called “weak alleles” of the FEA3 gene, function of the FEA3 receptor was only mildly impaired. It gave rise to a modest, manageable increase in stem cells – and to significantly larger ears than on wild-type plants. Ears had more rows of kernels, and up to 50% higher overall yield.

The discovery holds the prospect of translating into significant increases in yield in all the major staple crops. Jackson and colleagues now plan to test the newly discovered fea3 alleles in elite corn/maize varieties and other crops in agricultural trials.