Editing Sweet corn (section)

==History==
In 1493, Christopher Columbus returned to Europe with corn seeds, although this revelation did not succeed due to inadequate education of how to produce corn. Sweet corn occurs as a spontaneous mutation in [[field corn]] and was grown by several [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] tribes. The European cultivation of sweet corn occurred when the [[Iroquois]] tribes grew the first recorded sweet corn (called 'Papoon') for European settlers in 1779.<ref name="RJSch">Schultheis, Jonathan R. [https://web.archive.org/web/19970713003950/http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/hil-13.html "Sweet Corn Production."] North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, [[North Carolina State University]]. Revised 12/94.</ref> It soon became a popular food in the southern and central regions of the United States.

[[File:YoungSweetCorn.jpg|thumb|200px|Young sweet corn]]
[[File:MatureSweetCorn.jpg|thumb|200px|The same rows of corn 41 days later at maturity]]

[[Open pollination|Open pollinated]] [[cultivar]]s of white sweet corn started to become widely available in the United States in the 19th century.  Two of the most enduring cultivars, still available today, are 'Country Gentleman' (a [[Shoepeg corn]] with small kernels in irregular rows) and 'Stowell's Evergreen'.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.timesunion.com/living/article/Make-every-ear-count-546254.php | publisher = Times Union | title = Make every ear count | date = 6 August 2009 | access-date = 2021-04-03}}</ref>

Sweet corn production in the 20th century was influenced by the following key developments:
*[[Hybrid (biology)|hybridization]] allowed for more uniform maturity, improved quality and disease resistance
**In 1933 'Golden Cross Bantam' was released. It is significant for being the first successful single-cross hybrid and the first specifically developed for disease resistance ([[Stewart's wilt]] in this case).<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.apsnet.org/edcenter/intropp/lessons/prokaryotes/Pages/StewartWilt.aspx | title = Stewart's Wilt of Corn | access-date = 2014-07-07 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171122102918/https://www.apsnet.org/edcenter/intropp/lessons/prokaryotes/Pages/StewartWilt.aspx | archive-date = 2017-11-22 | url-status = dead }}</ref>
*identification of the separate gene mutations responsible for sweetness in corn and the ability to breed cultivars based on these characteristics:
**''su'' (normal sugary)
**''se'' (sugary enhanced, originally called Everlasting Heritage)
**''sh2'' (shrunken-2)<ref name="DLLarson">{{cite journal|last= Levey Larson|first= Debra|date= August 2003|title= Supersweet sweet corn: 50 years in the making|journal= Inside Illinois|volume= 23|issue= 3|url= http://www.news.uiuc.edu/II/03/0807/sweetcorn.html|access-date= 2009-09-03|publisher= University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081012155831/http://www.news.uiuc.edu/II/03/0807/sweetcorn.html|archive-date= 2008-10-12}}</ref>

There are currently hundreds of cultivars, with more constantly being developed.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}