Short-Stature Corn for Delayed Harvest Without Lodging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Corn growers face challenges in determining the optimal harvest time to balance kernel moisture content, plant health, and lodging risk, which can be exacerbated by weather conditions, necessitating greater flexibility in harvesting to avoid artificial drying and lodging.
Innovation Solution
Harvest corn plants at least 50 days after fertilization or silking, with fewer than 50% of plants lodged, using mutant alleles in the GA20 oxidase_3, GA20 oxidase_5, or Brachytic2 (br2) loci that encode antisense RNA sequences or cause a short stature phenotype to reduce lodging.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If corn is harvested before optimal kernel moisture content, then harvest time is reduced and lodging risk is minimized, but artificial drying is required which increases cost and energy use
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the genetic parameters of the corn plant by introducing mutant alleles (ga20-3, ga20-5, br2) that alter plant height and lodging resistance. This enables the crop to be harvested at delayed times (50+ days after silking) without excessive lodging, allowing natural moisture reduction without artificial drying energy input
Solution Approach 2:
The mutant alleles are introduced into the corn genome before planting, pre-establishing the short stature and lodging resistance traits. This preliminary genetic modification allows the crop to tolerate delayed harvest conditions that would normally cause lodging in standard varieties
2Loss of energy
If corn is harvested after optimal kernel moisture content, then artificial drying is avoided, but lodging risk increases due to plant senescence and weather events
Solution Approach 1:
The invention modifies the plant's physical parameters through genetic mutation, creating a short stature phenotype (reduced plant height) that inherently resists lodging. This parameter change allows the crop to remain in the field longer without the reliability penalty of lodging, enabling harvest after optimal moisture content
Solution Approach 2:
The mutant alleles act as a disposable genetic solution that provides lodging resistance throughout the extended harvest window. The genetic modification is a one-time investment that protects against lodging for the entire delayed harvest period
3Quantity of substance
If corn is harvested after 50 days post-silking, then kernel moisture content is optimized and artificial drying is minimized, but lodging risk increases without genetic modification
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the plant's developmental parameters through genetic mutation, altering the relationship between time in field and lodging susceptibility. The mutant plants maintain structural integrity longer, allowing the 50+ day delayed harvest schedule that optimizes kernel moisture
Solution Approach 2:
The mutant alleles provide multiple benefits simultaneously: they reduce plant height, increase lodging resistance, and enable delayed harvest. This multi-functional genetic modification addresses both the moisture content optimization and lodging resistance requirements
Data Source
AI summary
Methods for delayed harvesting of corn fields are provided herein. These methods provide an extended, flexible period of time to harvest corn. The methods allow growers to harvest their corn at the optimal time for drying down or accessing seed, without increasing the risk of losing yield to lodging.