Genomics of long- and short- term adaptation in maize and teosinte

Abstract

Maize is an excellent model for the study of plant adaptation. Indeed, post domestication maize quickly adapted to a host of new environments across the globe. And work over the last decade has begun to highlight the role of the wild relatives of maize – the teosintes Zea mays ssp. parviglumis and ssp. mexicana – as excellent models for dissecting long-term local adaptation. Although human-driven selection associated with maize domestication has been extensively studied, the genetic bases of natural variation is still poorly understood. Here we review studies on the genetic basis of adaptation and plasticity in maize and its wild relatives. We highlight a range of different processes that contribute to adaptation and discuss evidence from natural, cultivated, and experimental populations. From an applied perspective, understanding the genetic bases of adaptation and the contribution of plasticity will provide us with new tools to both better understand and mitigate the effect of climate changes on natural and cultivated populations.