Pod corn

{{Infobox cultivar

| name = Pod corn

| image = Pod corn.JPG

| image_caption =

| image_alt =

| species = Zea mays

| variety = Zea mays var. tunicata

| group =

| cultivar =

| origin =

}}

Pod corn or wild maize is a variety of maize (corn).{{cite book|title=Maize Cobs and Cultures: History of Zea mays L.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pHChoyH4FMwC&pg=PA114|access-date=20 April 2013|year=2010|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-642-04524-0|pages=114–}}{{cite journal|pmid=22829149|year=2012|last1=Han|first1=JJ|last2=Jackson|first2=D|last3=Martienssen|first3=R|title=Pod corn is caused by rearrangement at the Tunicate1 locus|volume=24|issue=7|pages=2733–44|doi=10.1105/tpc.112.100537|pmc=3426111|journal=The Plant Cell|bibcode=2012PlanC..24.2733H }} It is not a wild ancestor of maize but rather a mutant that forms leaves around each kernel.{{cite web| url = https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120424120541.htm| title = Pod corn develops leaves in the inflorescences -- ScienceDaily}}

Pod corn (tunicata Sturt) is not grown commercially, but it is preserved in some localities.{{cite book

| title= Soils, Plant Growth and Crop Production Volume II

| chapter= Growth And Production Of Maize: Traditional Low-Input Cultivation

| editor=Willy H. Verheye

| date=2010

| publisher=EOLSS Publishers

| isbn=978-1-84826-368-0

| url=https://www.eolss.net/ebooklib/bookinfo/soils-plant-growth-crop-production.aspx

| page=77

}}

Pod corn forms glumes around each kernel which is caused by a mutation at the Tunicate locus.{{efn|More specifically, a gene ordinarily relating only to vegetative portions of the plant, called ZMM19, was apparently duplicated (in pre-Columbian times), leading to expression of the leafy sheath at the plant's inflorescences.{{Citation

| last = Wingen, L. U., Munster, T., Faigl, W., Deleu, W., Sommer, H., Saedler, H., & Theissen, G.

| year = 2012

| title = Molecular genetic basis of pod corn (Tunicate maize)

| journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

| volume = 109

| issue = 18

| pages = 7115–7120

| publisher = PNAS

| publication-place = University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

| doi = 10.1073/pnas.1111670109

| doi-access = free

| pmid = 22517751

| pmc = 3344968

| bibcode = 2012PNAS..109.7115W

}}}} Because of its bizarre appearance, pod corn has had a religious significance to certain Native American tribes.{{which?|date=October 2024}}Wingen, L. U., Munster, T., Faigl, W., Deleu, W., Sommer, H., Saedler, H., & Theissen, G.

(2012). Molecular genetic basis of pod corn (Tunicate maize). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(18), 7115-7120. doi:10.1073/pnas.1111670109

The six major types of corn are dent corn, flint corn, pod corn, popcorn, flour corn, and sweet corn.Linda Campbell Franklin, "Corn," in Andrew F. Smith (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013 (pp. 551–558), p. 553.

References

Category:Maize