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To establish evolutionary and genetic relationships,, the proteins of a hybrid field corn, an Illinois high-protein corn, and an Argentine popcorn were compared to those of two wild relatives, teosinte and Tripsacum. After sequential extractions of grain meals by a modified Osborne-Mendel scheme, the protein classes obtained were subjected to amino acid analyses and electrophoresis in various systems. Tripsacum yielded less zein and more alcohol-soluble reduced glutelin than the other grains. These differences resulted in Tripsacum grain having a higher methionine content than the others and deviating from the inverse correlation between lysine content and zein content demonstrated in corn. Most electrophoretic patterns of zeins and alcohol-soluble reduced glutelins of the teosintes were similar to their counterparts in the corns but those of Tripsacum showed marked differences. These data support other evidence that teosinte is closely related to corn and may be ita direct ancestor whereas Tripsacum is less closely related.

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