Maize Insect Resistance via Marker-Assisted Gene Selection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for controlling corn silk fly and phorid fly infestations in maize crops rely heavily on chemical pesticides and genetically modified organisms (GMOs), which raise health and environmental concerns, and have not effectively provided commercially acceptable genetic control over these pests.
Innovation Solution
The development of maize plants and seeds that utilize molecular markers to incorporate specific genes into parent lines, providing natural resistance to corn silk flies and phorid flies without the use of pesticides or transgenically introduced genes, using a marker-assisted selection process to identify and incorporate single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and indels associated with insect resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If chemical pesticides and insecticides are applied to control corn silk fly and phorid fly, then insect infestation is reduced, but health and environmental concerns arise and economic losses continue
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and utilizes naturally occurring genes from wild maize relatives that provide insect resistance, removing the need for external chemical pesticides. The native genes are selected and incorporated into cultivated maize through marker-assisted breeding, providing intrinsic resistance without introducing foreign transgenic material.
Solution Approach 2:
The maize plant is equipped with self-defense capabilities through naturally occurring resistance genes. The plant's own genetic material, derived from wild relatives, enables it to resist insect attacks autonomously without requiring external chemical interventions, making the crop self-protecting against pests.
2Reliability
If GMOs are used to provide genetic control over pests, then some level of protection is achieved, but commercially acceptable genetic control has not been effectively provided
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by using resistance genes specifically adapted from wild maize relatives that are geographically and genetically compatible with cultivated maize. The native genes from local wild populations provide resistance while maintaining commercial acceptability, avoiding the need for foreign transgenic modifications.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of genetic origin from foreign transgenic sources to native wild maize relatives. This parameter change maintains genetic control reliability while improving commercial acceptability by using naturally occurring genes that are more readily accepted by consumers and regulators.
3Stability of the object's composition
If maize crop diversity is reduced through domestication and selection processes, then uniformity is achieved, but genetic vulnerability to insect pests increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the genetic material of cultivated maize with resistance genes from wild maize relatives. Through marker-assisted backcrossing, the desirable uniformity of cultivated maize is combined with the pest resistance of wild relatives, creating hybrids that possess both uniformity and intrinsic resistance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary action by pre-selecting and identifying resistance genes in wild maize relatives using molecular markers before incorporating them into cultivated varieties. This advance preparation ensures that resistance traits are systematically integrated while maintaining crop uniformity, rather than reacting to pest outbreaks after they occur.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to methods for producing maize plants, plant materials and seeds that provide a means of controlling and defending against the corn silk fly and phorid fly, and improved maize plants, plant materials and seed produced by these methods. Corn silk flies and phorid flies are highly detrimental and destructive insects damaging maize plants, plant materials and seed during their growing stages in many different geographic regions worldwide. The inventive methods utilize molecular markers to incorporate genes that prove a means for controlling and defending against the corn silk fly and phorid fly into male and female inbred parent maize lines used to produce maize hybrids, or into at least one of the maize parent lines of a hybrid.