The genetic base of commercial hybrid field corn in the U.S. is extremely narrow, relative to the total genetic variation available within the species worldwide. Maize accessions representing the landraces selected by Native American agriculturalists over thousands of years languish unused in germplasm banks. A major reason that the vast genetic resources of maize are not well used is that most landraces are of tropical origin and are poorly adapted to temperate U.S. corn-growing regions such as North Carolina. Nevertheless, there is evidence that these unused genetic resources harbor favorable alleles for disease resistances, grain yield, and grain quality. The primary objective of our work is to identify these favorable alleles and to transfer them into well-adapted genetic backgrounds that can be easily incorporated into commercial corn hybrids. In order to accomplish this, we will attempt to improve our understanding of the germplasm resources for maize using genetic markers, and we will develop and test marker-assisted breeding schemes using maize as a model species. More information on our research can be found at: