The Current Status of Breeding for Protein Quality in Corn

Abstract

The current rapid expansion of the human population on earth, particularly in the less developed countries, raises the possibility of widespread, serious malnutrition and starvation for many unless agricultural technology can intervene with appropriate answers to these problems. Plant breeders have been charged with developing varieties that will yield larger quantities of improved quality protein. Since the realization that maize having the opaque-2 gene has markedly improved protein quality, much work has been done in many areas of research to apply this discovery as well as to learn more about alternative methods to attain the same goals. This discussion will be a review of the advances so far attained by plant breeders in their efforts to develop maize with improved protein quantity and quality. Work concerning the utilization of mutant genes that improve protein quality and efforts at exploiting the naturally occurring variation for protein quality and quantity will be examined. Work that has been done in other related fields that has relevance to the protein improvement problem will also be examined. Screening and subsequent regeneration of tissue cultures as well as work concerning the biochemical energetics of yield and protein improvement will be examined in order to bring the problem of breeding for protein improvement into perspective. Finally, the corn industry’s experience with improving protein quality and quantity will provide a basis for discussing the economic considerations of such improvement.