title: Genetic diversity and population structure of native maize populations in Latin America and the Caribbean.
abstract: This study describes the genetic diversity and population structure of 194 native maize populations from 23 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. The germplasm, representing 131 distinct landraces, was genetically characterized as population bulks using 28 SSR markers. Three main groups of maize germplasm were identified. The first, the Mexico and Southern Andes group, highlights the Pre-Columbian and modern exchange of germplasm between North and South America. The second group, Mesoamerica lowland, supports the hypothesis that two separate human migration events could have contributed to Caribbean maize germplasm. The third, the Andean group, displayed early introduction of maize into the Andes, with little mixing since then, other than a regional interchange zone active in the past. Events and activities in the pre- and post-Columbian Americas including the development and expansion of pre-Columbian cultures and the arrival of Europeans to the Americas are discussed in relation to the history of maize migration from its point of domestication in Mesoamerica to South America and the Caribbean through sea and land routes.
authors.affiliation: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Applied Biotechnology Center, Texcoco, Mexico.|Universitat de les Illes Balears, Departament de Biologia, Illes Balears, Spain.
authors.forename: Claudia A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Bedoya
authors.affiliation: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Applied Biotechnology Center, Texcoco, Mexico.
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dreisigacker
authors.affiliation: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Applied Biotechnology Center, Texcoco, Mexico.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hearne
authors.affiliation: Universidad de la Republica, Facultad de Agronomía, Estadística y Computación, Paysandú, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Franco
authors.affiliation: Unité Mixte de Recherche de Génétique Végétale, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique-Université Paris Sud-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique -AgroParisTech, Yvette, France.
authors.forename: Celine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mir
authors.affiliation: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Applied Biotechnology Center, Texcoco, Mexico.
authors.forename: Boddupalli M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Prasanna
authors.affiliation: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Applied Biotechnology Center, Texcoco, Mexico.
authors.forename: Suketoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Taba
authors.affiliation: Unité Mixte de Recherche de Génétique Végétale, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique-Université Paris Sud-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique -AgroParisTech, Yvette, France.
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Charcosset
authors.affiliation: United States Department of Agriculture, Corn Host Plant Research Resistance Unit, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, United States of America.
authors.forename: Marilyn L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Warburton
mesh_terms: D002489:Central America; D005787:Gene Frequency; D017343:Genes, Plant; D014644:Genetic Variation; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013020:South America; D014900:West Indies; D003313:Zea mays / Q000235:genetics*