ABSTRACT
Maize (Zea mays) is a tall (1-4 m) crop plant with broad (5-10 cm) and long leaves (50-100 cm) and extensive fi brous root system. Botanically, maize is an annual grass that belongs to Poaceae family. Each maize stalk usually forms a single ear and each ear has about 300 to 1,000 kernels on it. Maize has very high economic value as the major staple food as well as feedstock for industrial applications. In addition to its economic importance, maize has been a widely used model organism for basic, translational and applied research for more than a century.
