Distribution of perennial maize populations
--D. L. Shaver

We will distribute our perennial maize populations to anyone interested in them. Cornnuts has 3 basic perennial populations, two of them tetraploid, one diploid.

Population I. Originally synthesized at Brookhaven in 1962. Has since been maintained by mass selection for perennialism in isolated plantings. It has periodically been serially backcrossed to 4N maize, the last such backcross was to D. E. Alexander, DE's "4N Syn. B". Present theoretical proportion of maize germplasm is 15/16. The other 1/16 comes from Zea perennis, the clone from Randolph he designated "E16515". This population derives from 28 generations of mass selection.

Population II. This second 4N population has the same origins as Population I, except that 5 generations ago, it was outcrossed to a 2N stock having the genes, gt/gt, and id/id. The resultant triploids were sibbed with the larger pollen grains, separated out by mechanical screening, so as to restore the population to tetraploidy. Since then, it has also been maintained in isolation with mass selection.

Population III. This 2N population was derived by crossing Zea diploperennis to maize stocks having gt/gt and id/id, followed by mass selection for perennialism.

We will be happy to respond to letter requests for any of the above. 

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