New research lays the groundwork for higher-yielding corn plants. A recent discovery could allow researchers and plant breeders to more easily design corn plants with tassels and leaves geared for efficiency.
Corn plants of the future still on track
Twenty-five years ago, Dave Nanda sketched a prototypical corn plant of the future. The longtime corn breeder, now retired, envisioned shorter plants shaped like Christmas trees, with narrow, upright leaves and smaller, super-efficient tassels. The shape of many new hybrids trend in that direction.
The trend could pick up steam after Andrea Eveland and her team at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis published breakthrough findings in Nature Communications. They uncovered key genetic regulatory factors that control a phenomenon called pleiotropy. In laymen’s terms, pleiotropy means that a single gene influences multiple traits.
This discovery sheds light on how genes governing leaf angle and tassel branching in corn can be modified to optimize final yield. Until now, pleiotropy challenged corn breeders because selecting for one positive trait could negatively impact another linked trait.
This study underscores the value of interdisciplinary research. Besides Eveland’s team, researchers at the University of Illinois, University of California, Berkeley and North Carolina State University worked on this project. Not all were agronomists. Teams included developmental geneticists, computational biologists and statisticians.
Drone-applied product fights crop stress
Sweetwater Technologies develops products for ultralow-volume application by drones. The company recently introduced Dronezone Recharged, registered by the U.S. EPA as a plant growth regulator. Spokespersons say it provides up to 30 days of abiotic stress resistance compared to two weeks, the industry standard.
Two applications by drone could net 60 days of natural defense protection, spokespersons claim. The product works by stimulating the plant’s natural defense system.
New biocontrol agent targets nematodes, rootworms
RinoTec Technology from Pro Farm Group, Davis, California, will show up in on-farm trials this summer, and is expected to be available in 2026, pending state approvals. EPA recently registered RinoTec, a novel biocontrol agent with strong activity against nematodes, wireworms, corn rootworms and more. Anything that works against both nematodes and corn rootworm should grab farmers’ attention.
JR Abele, RinoTec product manager, says the technology will be an effective, nonsynthetic complement to pest management programs for corn and several specialty crops. It can be applied at planting or as a foliar application. In the soil, it is absorbed by roots, and when ingested by pests, it acts as a stomach poison.
A prototype of RinoTec successfully controlled Bt-resistant insects in lab studies. Currently, it is classified as a non-Bt, bacterial agent of unknown or uncertain mode of action.
EDITOR’S TAKE:
These new innovative breakthroughs in corn could likely lead to significant gains in yield and even quality. Farmers are typically cautious about getting their hopes too high with new technology, but when you’re talking control of major pests, lowering plant stress or re-engineering the size and shape of the plant to increase photosynthesis, thus increasing yields you probably have a winning combination.
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