WASHINGTON, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- A team of scientists have completed a working draft of the corn genome, an accomplishment that should accelerate efforts to develop better crop varieties to meet society's growing demands for food, livestock feed and fuel.

The genetic blueprint was announced on Thursday by the project's leader, Richard Wilson, director of Washington University's Genome Sequencing Center, at the 50th Annual Maize Genetics Conference in Washington, D.C.

Corn is only the second crop after rice to have its genome sequenced, and scientists will now be able to look for genetic similarities and differences between the crops.

Corn has 50,000 to 60,000 genes, roughly double the number of human genes. The genetic code of corn consists of 2 billion bases of DNA, making it similar in size to the human genome, which is 2.9 billion letters long. By comparison, the rice genome is far smaller, containing about 430 million bases.

"This first draft of the genome sequence is exciting because it's the first comprehensive glimpse at the blueprint for the corn plant," Wilson says. "Scientists now will be able to accurately and efficiently probe the corn genome to find ways to improve breeding and subsequently increase crop yields and resistance to drought and disease."

The team has already made the sequencing information accessible to scientists worldwide by depositing it in GenBank, an online public DNA database.

The draft covers about 95 percent of the corn genome, and scientists will spend the remaining year of the grant refining and finalizing the sequence. "Although it's still missing a few bits, the draft genome sequence is empowering," Wilson explains.

The group sequenced a variety of corn known as B73, developed at Iowa State decades ago. It is noted for its high grain yields and has been used extensively in both commercial corn breeding and in research laboratories.

The genome will help unravel the basic biology of corn. It will be a key tool for researchers working to improve varieties of corn and other cereal crops, including rice, wheat and barley.