Large scale sampling of Mexican maize landraces for the presence of transgenes.

The presence and levels of transgenic maize in Mexico and the effect this could have on local landraces or closely related species such as teosinte has been the subject of several previous reports, some showing contrasting results. Cultural, social and political factors all affect maize cultivation in Mexico and although since 1998 there has been a moratorium on the commercial cultivation of transgenic maize, Mexico imports maize, mainly from the USA where transgenic cultivars are widely grown. Additionally extensive migration between rural areas in Mexico and the USA and customs of seed exchange between farmers may also play an unintentional role in the establishment of transgenic seed.

Two Populations of Viral Minichromosomes Are Present in a Geminivirus-Infected Plant Showing Symptom Remission (Recovery).

Unlabelled: Geminiviruses are important plant pathogens characterized by circular, single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) genomes. However, in the nuclei of infected cells, viral double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) associates with host histones to form a minichromosome. In phloem-limited geminiviruses, the characterization of viral minichromosomes is hindered by the low concentration of recovered complexes due to the small number of infected cells.

Genome-wide analysis of the beta-glucosidase gene family in maize (Zea mays L. var B73).

The hydrolysis of beta-D: -glucosidic bonds which is required for the liberation of many physiologically important compounds is catalyzed by the enzyme beta-glucosidase (BGLU, EC 3.2.1.