GAIN: A long-term maize germplasm innovation plan

Yang Wang; Peng Zhang; Yingjie Xiao; Hai-Jun Liu; Junqiang Ding; Yanzhi Qu; Jionghao Gao; Wenlong Li; Xiangyang Guo; Angui Wang; Wenqiang Li; Gengshen Chen; Cheng-Qiao Shi; Jie Liu; Jianxiao Liu; Jian Zhang; Jieting Xu; Han Zhang; Jianan Zhang; Jiuran Zhao; Jihua Tang; Haiyang Wang; Zuxin Zhang; Zehui Chen; Jianbing Yan

doi:10.1016/j.molp.2025.05.005

GAIN: A long-term maize germplasm innovation plan

Mol Plant. 2025 May 13:S1674-2052(25)00164-9. doi: 10.1016/j.molp.2025.05.005. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Yang Wang¹, Peng Zhang¹, Yingjie Xiao², Hai-Jun Liu³, Junqiang Ding⁴, Yanzhi Qu¹, Jionghao Gao¹, Wenlong Li¹, Xiangyang Guo⁵, Angui Wang⁵, Wenqiang Li², Gengshen Chen⁶, Cheng-Qiao Shi⁷, Jie Liu¹, Jianxiao Liu⁸, Jian Zhang⁹, Jieting Xu¹⁰, Han Zhang¹¹, Jianan Zhang¹², Jiuran Zhao¹³, Jihua Tang¹⁴, Haiyang Wang¹⁵, Zuxin Zhang¹⁶, Zehui Chen¹⁷, Jianbing Yan¹⁸

Affiliations

¹ Yazhouwan National Laboratory, Sanya 572024, China.
² National Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan 430070, China.
³ Yazhouwan National Laboratory, Sanya 572024, China. Electronic address: liuhaijun@yzwlab.cn.
⁴ Yazhouwan National Laboratory, Sanya 572024, China; Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crops Science, College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China.
⁵ Institute of Upland Food Crops, Guizhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guiyang 550000, China.
⁶ Xiangyang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Xiangyang 441057, China.
⁷ Maize Research Institute, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanning 530007, China.
⁸ National Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan 430070, China; Hubei Key Laboratory of Agricultural Bioinformatics, College of Informatics, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
⁹ Macro Agriculture Research Institute, Key Laboratory of Farmland Conservation in the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
¹⁰ WIMI Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Qingdao 266100, China.
¹¹ HC Scientific (Chengdu) LLC, Chengdu 610219, China.
¹² Molbreeding Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Shijiazhuang 050035, China.
¹³ Maize Research Institute, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences/Beijing Key Laboratory of Maize DNA Fingerprinting and Molecular Breeding, Beijing 100097, China.
¹⁴ Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crops Science, College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China.
¹⁵ Yazhouwan National Laboratory, Sanya 572024, China. Electronic address: wanghaiyang@yzwlab.cn.
¹⁶ Yazhouwan National Laboratory, Sanya 572024, China. Electronic address: zhangzuxin@yzwlab.cn.
¹⁷ Yazhouwan National Laboratory, Sanya 572024, China; Institute of Upland Food Crops, Guizhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guiyang 550000, China. Electronic address: chenzehui@yzwlab.cn.
¹⁸ National Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan 430070, China. Electronic address: yjianbing@mail.hzau.edu.cn.

PMID: 40369876
DOI: 10.1016/j.molp.2025.05.005

Abstract

While these initiatives enriched breeding pipelines, challenges remain. Linkage drag and poor agronomic performance of some landraces hindered exotic germplasm utilization. Their regional focus limited global applicability, and conventional population development methods proved resource intensive and slow.