主要研究：Here, we report de novo genome sequences of four European flint lines assembled to pseudomolecules with scaffold N50 ranging from 6.1 to 10.4 Mb.

结果：Comparative analyses with two US Corn Belt lines explains the pronounced differences between both germplasms. While overall syntenic order and consolidated gene annotations reveal only moderate pangenomic differences, whole-genome alignments delineating the core and dispensable genome, and the analysis of heterochromatic knobs and orthologous long terminal repeat retrotransposons unveil the dynamics of the maize genome.

结论：The high-quality genome sequences of the flint pool complement the maize pangenome and provide an important tool to study maize improvement at a genome scale and to enhance modern hybrid breeding.

p.s. 现有超过50个玉米栽培种，通常可以归为五大类：硬质玉米（flint corn），马齿玉米（dent corn），粉质玉米（flour corn），爆裂玉米（pop corn）以及甜玉米（sweet corn）。参考：