Gene flow between maize landraces and nearby wild-relatives in Mexico

Some crops co-exist with wild relatives and continue to interbreed well after domestication, with potential evolutionary consequences. In this study, we sequenced the genomes of diverse maize populations and nearby populations of mexicana, a wild relative of maize that is endemic to the mountains of Mexico and may have contributed key genetic adaptations to maize for growing at high elevations. The goal of this project is to better understand the genetic basis of high elevation adaptation in maize and, more broadly, the contribution of gene flow to the evolution of this domesticated and wild subspecies pair.