Indigenous maize varieties from eastern North America have played an outsized role in breeding programs, yet their early origins are not fully understood. We generated paleogenomic data to reconstruct how maize first reached this region and how it was selected during the process. Genomic ancestry analyses reveal recurrent movements northward from different parts of Mexico, likely culminating in at least two dispersals from the US Southwest across the Great Plains to the Ozarks and beyond. We find that 1,000-year-old Ozark specimens carry a highly differentiated wx1 gene, which is involved in the synthesis of amylose, highlighting repeated selective pressures on the starch metabolic pathway throughout maize’s domestication. This population shows a close affinity with the lineage that ultimately became the Northern Flints, a major contributor to modern commercial maize.

中文翻译：

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北美东部早熟玉米的基因组起源


来自北美东部的本土玉米品种在育种计划中发挥了巨大作用，但其早期起源尚不完全清楚。我们生成了古基因组数据，以重建玉米最初是如何到达该地区的，以及在此过程中是如何选择的。基因组祖先分析揭示了从墨西哥不同地区向北反复移动，最终可能以至少两次从美国西南部穿过大平原到奥扎克及更远地区的扩散而告终。我们发现，1,000 岁的 Ozark 标本携带一个高度分化的 wx1 基因，该基因参与直链淀粉的合成，突出了玉米在整个驯化过程中淀粉代谢途径的反复选择压力。这个种群与最终成为北方燧石的血统密切相关，北方燧石是现代商业玉米的主要贡献者。