WHAT: 50th Annual Maize Genetics ConferenceWHEN: Feb. 27 to March 2, 2008WHERE: Marriott Wardman Park, 2660 Woodley Road, NW, Washington, D.C.WHO: Thomas Brutnell, of the Boyce Thompson Institute, at Cornell University, served as this year's conference chair
Newswise — The 50th Annual Maize Genetics Conference will be held at the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, D.C., from Feb. 27 to March 2, 2008. Highlights of the conference include announcing the draft sequence of the maize genome, progress on improving maize as a bioenergy crop, and the development of biofortified, nutritionally enhanced corn. Specific highlights:
"¢ Feb. 28: Press conference announcing the maize genome sequence, in the Hoover Room, Marriott Wardman Park, at 12:30 p.m. A consortium led by Richard Wilson, professor of genetics, Washington University in St. Louis, will announce the genome sequence for maize. The sequence contains more than twice as many genes as humans. Understanding the genome sets the stage for rapid advances in sequencing other crops. This knowledge will dramatically accelerate research by corn geneticists who are working to improve grain yield, nutritional quality, drought and pest resistance, and the production of renewable energy.
"¢ Feb. 28: Maize as a bioenergy feedstock, a poster session on enhancing ethanol production from the U.S. corn crop, from 3 " 5 p.m., Hoover Room. Michael Edgerton, research scientist at Monsanto will describe varieties that further optimize current ethanol production from corn. Nicholas Carpita, professor of plant biology from Purdue University, will present research " from lignocellulosic sources " for exploiting biomass available from corn stalks in generating biofuels.
"¢ Feb. 28: Maize and the environment, "Translating Genomics to Maize Improvement," scientific discussions, 9 a.m. " Noon, Thurgood Marshall Room, Marriott Wardman Park. Climate change can wreak havoc on agricultural productivity, as crops can be at great risk for temperature extremes and drought. A series of talks by Geoff Graham, of Pioneer Hi-Bred, Tom Greene of Dow AgroSciences, and Paul Chomet, of Monsanto, will present examples of improved corn varieties that have enhanced tolerance to environmental stress like drought and high temperature, and which are designed to bolster food, feed and renewable energy productivity.
"¢ Feb. 28: Maize and the nutrition of vitamin A, 9 a.m. " Noon, Thurgood Marshall Room. Maize varieties grown throughout the world contain little provitamin A. In Africa where vitamin A deficiencies lead to increased disease and blindness in millions of children, the biofortification of maize is an important solution to ending this epidemic. Jianbing Yan, a research scientist from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico, will explain provitamin A accumulation in corn. Using molecular techniques, maize researchers have developed molecular markers that enable plant breeders to enhance the provitamin A content in varieties now being grown in Africa.
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