Jinhua  Cheng , Wei  Wang

Institute of Life Sciences, Jiyang College of Zhejiang A&F University, Zhuji, 311800, Zhejiang, China
Author    Correspondence author
Maize Genomics and Genetics, 2025, Vol. 16, No. 3   
Received: 25 Mar., 2025    Accepted: 05 May, 2025    Published: 20 May, 2025

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Fresh corn is favored by consumers for its soft and sticky taste, unique flavor and rich nutrition. Breeding high-yield, high-quality and stress-resistant glutinous corn varieties has become an important goal. Global warming has brought severe challenges to corn production, especially high temperature stress has a significant impact on corn flowering and pollination and grain filling stages, resulting in a decrease in yield. In recent years, the advancement of molecular breeding technology and the application of methods such as genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) have promoted the discovery of heat-resistant gene markers and quantitative trait loci (QTLs), laying a solid genetic foundation for heat-resistant corn breeding. At the same time, the rich genetic diversity in local varieties and wild corn resources provides an important resource for exploring heat-resistant genes. Heat shock proteins (HSPs) and heat shock factors (HSFs) play a key role in the heat resistance mechanism of corn. Transgenic technology also provides a new direction for breeding heat-resistant corn. In current breeding practice, many heat-resistant related traits are not included in the selection indicators, mainly because their determination is complex and costly. Therefore, the development of low-cost and easy-to-operate phenotypic identification methods, combined with genomic technology, can accelerate the breeding of heat-resistant corn and enhance the sustainable development capacity of agriculture.

Fresh corn; High temperature stress; Molecular breeding; Heat shock protein; Phenotypic identification