An aerobiological framework for assessing cross-pollination in maize

Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the world’s most important crops. Until recent times, improvement in maize resulted from the manipulation and exchange of genetic information within the genus Zea. With the advent of genetic engineering, genetic information from other species is routinely incorporated into the maize genome. Since maize is a wind-pollinated outcrossing species, questions arise concerning the flow of genetic information between genetically modified (GM) and non-GM maize. Because of the rapidly accelerating introduction of GM corn into agricultural production, improved aerobiological models to predict how far and to what extent maize pollen can be transported in the atmosphere are needed today. Models should provide quantitative understanding of both short- and long-range pollen dispersal, thereby offering a means to evaluate deposition of viable maize pollen in seed production fields as well as on neighboring farms. Central to pollen dispersal is the rich interplay between physics and biology and between space and time. We present an aerobiological framework for assessing corn pollen movement in the atmosphere that could also be applied to other crops and to uncultivated species. An important aim of this paper is to spark interest in the scientific community to generate a more complete framework of corn pollen dispersal. As such this manuscript presents a multidisciplinary albeit incomplete perspective to an emerging applied problem.