Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40399895›Full record

ArticleBMC biology2025

Individual plant genetics reveal the control of local adaptation in European maize landraces.

Leke Victor Aiyesa, Dietrich Kaufmann, Birgit Zumbach, Wolfgang Link, Stefan Scholten, Timothy Beissinger

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC biology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Leke Victor AiyesaDivision of Plant Breeding Methodology, Department of Crop Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Georg-August-University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany. lekevictor.aiyesa@uni-goettingen.de.
Dietrich KaufmannDivision of Plant Breeding Methodology, Department of Crop Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Georg-August-University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
Birgit ZumbachDivision of Plant Breeding Methodology, Department of Crop Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Georg-August-University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
Wolfgang LinkDivision of Plant Breeding Methodology, Department of Crop Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Georg-August-University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
Stefan ScholtenDivision of Crop Plants Genetics, Department of Crop Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Georg-August-University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
Timothy BeissingerHeritable Agriculture, Mountain View, CA, 94040, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundEuropean maize landraces encompass a large amount of genetic diversity, allowing them to be well-adapted to their local environments. This diversity can be exploited to improve the fitness of elite material in the face of a changing climate.

resultsWe characterized the genetic diversity of 333 individual plants from 40 European maize landrace populations (EMLPs). We identified five genetic groups that mirrored the proximities of their geographical origins. Fixation indices showed moderate differentiation among genetic groups (0.034 to 0.093). More than half of the genetic variance was observed to be partitioned among individuals. Nucleotide diversity of EMLPs decreased significantly as latitude increased (from 0.16 to 0.04), suggesting serial founder events during maize expansion in Europe. GWAS with latitude, longitude, and elevation as response variables identified 28, 347, and 68 significant SNP positions, respectively. We pinpointed significant SNPs near dwarf8, tb1, ZCN7, ZCN8, and ZmMADS69 and identified 126 candidate genes with ontology terms indicative of local adaptation in maize, regulating adaptation to diverse abiotic and biotic environmental stresses.

conclusionsThis study suggests a quick and cost-efficient approach to identifying genes involved in local adaptation without requiring field data. The EMLPs used in this study have been assembled to serve as a continuing resource of genetic diversity for further research aimed at improving agronomically relevant adaptation traits.

Indexed as

Adaptation, PhysiologicalGenetic VariationZea maysEuropeGenes, PlantGenome-Wide Association StudyPolymorphism, Single NucleotideFounder eventIndividual plantsNucleotide diversitySelection signatures

Identifiers

PMID40399895
PMCPMC12096487

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.