The project network MAZE under the leadership of the TUM Chair of Plant Breeding was able to show with a combination of new molecular and statistical methods that advantageous genes from old maize varieties, so-called landraces, can be used to improve traits in current breeding material. The results were published in Nature Communications.
Press release "Climate-adapted plant breeding"
Mayer M, Hölker AC, González-Segovia E, Bauer E, Presterl T, Ouzunova M, Melchinger AE, Schön CC (2020) Discovery of beneficial haplotypes for complex traits in maize landraces. Nature Commun 11:4954, doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18683-3