Researchers unlock key components of wheat’s genetic code

Scientists from the UK, Germany and the US have identified key parts of the genetic code of wheat, a move expected to boost food security.

The analysis of the complex bread wheat genome can help breeders and researchers develop wheat varieties that are tolerant to disease, drought and other factors that lead to crop losses.

In the study, which was based on the raw data of the wheat genome that was published by UK researchers in 2010, the research team analysed DNA sequence data.

The team identified nearly 96,000 wheat genes and the association between them.

This data can be used to accelerate wheat improvement through advanced molecular breeding and genetic engineering.

Using the new tools, the breeders and researchers will be able to choose plants with desirable combination of genes, accelerating the development of new varieties, while rapidly eliminating the plants without the desirable traits.

Study researcher Keith Edwards said that the rate of increase in wheat yields has dropped since 1980.

"Analysis of the wheat genome sequence data provides a new and very powerful foundation for breeding future generations of wheat more quickly and more precisely, to help address this problem," Edwards added.

The data is already being used in the research supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) to utilise wild wheat’s untapped genetic traits in order to boost tolerance to diseases and climate change.

The sequence data has been stored at the European Nucleotide Archive and is also available from databases in the UK and Germany.

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Photo: the analysis of the wheat genome sequence data is expected to help breeders and researchers develop wheat varieties that are tolerant to disease. Image: courtesy of George Popa.