Corn's Ancestor (IMAGE)
Caption
Like the golden kernels of corn, teosinte kernels are enclosed in a husk. Unlike corn, each husk is small and contains relatively few kernels, which are also enclosed in a hard, stone-like fruitcase. Corn was domesticated from teosinte around 10,000 years ago and lost its hard case in the process. UW-Madison professor John Doebley discovered the direct ancestor of corn more than two decades ago and today, has discovered how teosinte kernels lost their hard case to eventually become the edible kernels we feast on each summer.
Credit
Kelly April Tyrrell, UW-Madison
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