Estudio de la respuesta al cultivo de semillas y embriones de maíz (Zea mays) antiguo de la época Chimú (1420 años d.C.)

The culture response of maize seeds and embryos of the Chimu epoch of about 700 years has been studied. White tissue growth has been observed on embryos from a cob recovered from excavations at the “El Brujo” site (Chicama valley, Peru). Other cellular life evidences were detected, like cytoplasmic movements similar to cyclosis. The cultures of these embryos allowed to recover good-quality DNA, which was amplified by RAPD. This has allowed to study the biodiversity of such ancient material and to compare it to maize germplasm accessions at the CIMMYT that had been stored for more than 50 years. Yet, it has not been possible to induce the ancient seed germination nor the plant regeneration from the embryos with the culture conditions tested in this work. Yet, since the tests carried out indicate that the ancient seeds contain live tissue, it could be possible to obtain maize plants from them, if appropriate, albeit so far unknown, culture media were used.