| Each year Dr. Bill Wiebold and Travis Belt plant and manage the Gene Zoo at Bradford. The Gene Zoo shows the ancestors of Corn and Soybeans as well as different maturities and single gene mutations. |
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Teosinte the ancestor or corn that is commonly found growing wild in southern Mexico.
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| Glycine soja the wild relative of soybeans found growing in China. The plant is very vining rather than upright like modern soybeans. |
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A classic example of hybrid vigor or heterosis where two inbred lines, B73 and Mo17, are crossed and their offspring is superior to either.
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| An example of a single gene mutation is soybean where the soybeans do not have any pubescence on their leaves or stems (non glabrous). The absence of pubscence results in the plant being stunted (compared to the normal plant in the background) since insects with piercing sucking mouthparts can now feed upon it. Thus pubescence acts as a natural deterrent to insect damage. |
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| Further information can be found at: http://www.plantsci.missouri.edu/extension/genezoo/ |
