Plant health is essential for food security, and constitutes a major predictor to safe and
sustainable food systems. Over 40% of the global crops' productions are lost to pests …

Cereal production plays a major role in both animal and human diets throughout the world.
However, cereal crops are vulnerable to attacks by fungal pathogens on the foliage …

Southern corn rust (SCR), caused by the fungal pathogen Puccinia polysora, is a major
threat to maize production worldwide. Efficient breeding and deployment of resistant hybrids …

The development of resistant maize cultivars is the most effective and sustainable approach
to combat fungal diseases. Over the last three decades, many quantitative trait loci (QTL) …

Gray leaf spot (GLS) caused by Cercospora zeina or C. zeae‐maydis is a major maize
disease throughout the world. Although more than 100 QTLs resistant against GLS have …

Corn is a major staple crop known for its nutritional value and versatility in industrial
applications. Climate change threatens sustainable production, making understanding …

Introduction Kernels are important reproductive organs in maize, yet there is a lack of
systematic investigation on the differences in the composition of endophytic microorganisms …

Accepted: 8 November 2021© The Author (s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature BV
2021 increased around six-fold since the 1930s (https://www. world ofcorn. com). This has …

Key message QTL mapping combined with genome-wide association studies, revealed a
potential candidate gene for resistance to northern leaf blight in the tropical CATETO-related …

Maize ear rot poses a severe threat to maize yield and quality. Breeding and cultivating
highly resistant maize varieties is a crucial approach for preventing and controlling maize …