Maize Genomics and Genetics 2024, Vol.15, No.1, 18-26 http://cropscipublisher.com/index.php/mgg 24 samples for analysis, which helps improve the accuracy and reliability of their studies. At the same time, international cooperation can promote the exchange of research resources and technology, and accelerate the discovery and utilization of genetic factors that have an important impact on the nutritional quality of corn. GWAS technology shows great potential in corn nutrition improvement, and international cooperation on interdisciplinary integrated research methods and data sharing will be an important direction for future research. Through these approaches and collaborations, we hope to unlock more secrets about the genetic basis of corn nutritional quality and use this knowledge to improve corn varieties to meet the world's growing nutritional needs. 6Outlook Genome-wide association study (GWAS), as an important technology in modern genetics and molecular biology, has important scientific value in revealing the genetic secrets of crops such as corn. Especially in understanding the genetic basis of maize nutritional quality traits (Tang et al., 2005), GWAS has made significant contributions. Future research and breeding strategies need to be further explored and optimized on this basis. 6.1 The contribution of GWAS to understanding the genetic basis of corn nutritional quality traits Through GWAS, scientists have successfully identified multiple key genetic loci and genes related to corn nutritional quality traits, including genes affecting protein content, oil content, and vitamin and mineral content (Zhang et al., 2008). These findings not only provide molecular markers for nutritional improvement of corn, but also deepen our understanding of the formation mechanism of corn nutritional quality. For example, genes related to oil content discovered through GWAS revealed the complex network controlling oil synthesis and accumulation in corn. These research results provide the possibility to improve the nutritional quality of corn through molecular breeding or gene editing technology in the future. 6.2 Recommendations for future research and breeding strategies Based on the important contribution of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in the study of nutritional quality traits of corn, future research and breeding strategies will focus on several key directions. Considering the significant impact of environmental factors on crop trait performance, future research will strengthen GWAS research under a variety of environmental conditions. This method can help researchers more accurately identify genetic loci and genes related to specific traits, thereby improving the adaptability and stability of breeding. Using the genetic markers identified by GWAS, the breeding process of high nutritional value corn varieties will be accelerated through technologies such as molecular marker-assisted selection (MAS). For those key genes with known functions, gene editing technologies such as CRISPR can be used to precisely improve nutritional quality. In addition, research methods that integrate GWAS with transcriptomics, proteomics and other omics data will enable us to deeply understand the genetic regulation mechanism of corn nutritional quality traits from multiple levels and provide a more comprehensive scientific basis for breeding. Given the diversity of maize varieties and genetic resources, strengthening international cooperation and data sharing is of vital significance to accelerate the nutritional improvement of maize worldwide. This series of strategies and measures heralds a new direction in future research and practice on corn nutritional improvement, and is expected to push corn breeding to new heights. The contribution of GWAS technology to the genetic basis research of corn nutritional quality traits is significant. Future research needs to continue to explore deeper genetic mechanisms based on existing results, and apply the research results to breeding practices to cultivate high-quality corn varieties that are more in line with human nutrition and health needs. Through continuous scientific exploration and technological innovation, we have reason to believe that more significant progress will be made in corn nutritional improvement in the future. Acknowledgments We would like to express our gratitude to the two anonymous peer reviewers for their critical assessment and constructive suggestions on our manuscript. Conflict of Interest Disclosure The authors affirm that this research was conducted without any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
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