The evolutionary development of maize - Research Paper Example

In support of this assertion, the findings of the 1980s showed that teosinte correlated with domesticated maize. Thus, the evident variation between maize and teosinte probably might have been as a result of hybridization which can be facilitated by human action. In connection with this, the paper will expound on how and why humans alter the evolution track of maize. The genetic diversity of maize is linked to the multiple domestication of maize. Domestication is one of the processes of evolution of maize where selectivity is employed in determining the final product of the crossing.

In other words, species distributions of maize might have changed since the first time maize was domesticated. Due to demand of food, humans selected specific parents and crossed them in order to achieve high yield3. It was as a result of this evolution process of maize that the other evolution process of maize is very hard to determine. In tandem with this assertion, Zeder claims that the selective selection of a gene might have affected the promoter regions of genes in maize hampering with its evolution process4.

Bonavia also argues that domestication of maize made man to play with the genetic plasticity of maize in order to achieve a desired grain size5. Additionally, Bonia argues that domestication strongly reduces the sequence of maize diversity in the genes associated with the traits that are of importance to man6. In connection with this, a strong selection drastically reduces the genetic diversity of maize. The evolution process of maize has changed significantly for the past few years. This is evidenced by the rapid evolution changes of maize when the human selection of the maize ear is strong.

It is also evident that the evolution process of maize advances at a slow pace when the human selection of the ear is weak. Thus, the lack of explanation on the evolution process of maize is as a result of the