Some questions for the corn breeders out there...
What governs the type of rows a given
cob will produce? I imagine genetics likely play the biggest part of this equation, but I suspect environmental conditions also contribute.
For example, if you have an ear of corn with 12 straight rows from tip to bottom, an ear with 12 rows that spiral around the cob evenly, and an ear that is half straight rowed & half interlocking kernels. Is that pattern a genetic trait that the seed would probably reproduce? Does plant stress or speed of full pollination or other environmental conditions play a part? I think of ears that are only half pollinated that produce the largest kernels. Wouldn't that mean they are very likely to germinate well in an effort for the seed to survive the previous years' stressed conditions, & be more likely to thrive under those conditions with each successive generation? Conditions like lining up silk & pollen dispersal comes to mind.
What about kernel type such as shoe peg? If crossed with another normal straight rowed type, will there be a mixture of traits shown in the next generation, or would the shoe peg be suppressed in the F1 as recessive?
Same question for number of rows: If you were to cross a large kernel, 8 row count corn with an 18 row typical sized kernel variety, would you end up somewhere in the middle, or is there a clear dominance of certain traits published somewhere? Like a repository of generally accepted predictabilities?
Same question for ear length: If crossing a 12" ear variety with an 8" ear variety, with the results be somewhere in the middle until you refine it toward your objective?
I know, generally speaking, that a given cross will be 50/50, but the common expression of traits in the F1 is what I'm curious about. I ask these questions out of curiosity in case someone already has
experience that I can glean. TIA
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