Tracking Down the Jumping Genes of Maize (IMAGE) University of California - Davis Caption UC Davis graduate student Michelle Stitzer records the GPS coordinates of an individual Zea mays plant in a field in eastern Jalisco, Mexico, to investigate hybridization between maize and its wild relative teosinte. Stitzer's work has helped create a new genomic map of maize which for the first time locates the transposons or "jumping genes" that make up a major part of the maize genome. Credit Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra/UC Davis Usage Restrictions May be used with acknowledgement of the source. License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.