The 10+ Wheat Genomes Project, led by University of Saskatchewan Professor Curtis Pozniak, and the International Barley Pan Genome Sequencing Consortium, led by Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research Professor Nils Stein, have sequenced a suite of genomes of wheat and barley, opening up genetic variations for both.
Despite what anti-biology activists claim and Non-GMO Project sells stickers for, there is no GMO wheat. Wheat has been genetically engineered for thousands of years, of course, but that was using legacy trial and error techniques. To feed the global population of 2050, which will expect affordability and diversity in its food choices, wheat production will need to increase by more than 50 percent over current levels. Scientifically optimizing agriculture in other crops has made them affordable using less land, less water and less environmental strain than ever but whereas rice and corn have already been optimized, wheat and barley took more time. That is largely due to the size and complexity of their genomes, which meant more time to understand the key genes controlling yield, and the lack of genome assembly data for multiple lines of interest to breeders. The challenge was that with around 100,000 genes on 21 chromosomes, the wheat genome is approximately five times larger than the human genome. Like other kinds of grains, the modern common wheat has a multiple set of chromosomes that came about through hybridization and combining of three different parent plants.
There are more than 560,000 different varieties of bread wheat. Image: Rebecca Leber, UZH
Yet bread wheat alone has splintered into nearly 600,000 different varieties from two very limited sources. Because bread and noodles are what people wanted. A genetically engineered wheat is no good if no one wants it so ancient people converged on bread wheat (about 95 percent now) and durum or pasta wheat (5 percent.) That still holds true today. The new work provides for more options because it sequenced the genomes for 15 wheat varieties representing breeding programs around the world, enabling scientists and breeders to much more quickly identify influential genes for improved yield, pest resistance and other important crop traits.
The research team was able to track the unique DNA signatures of genetic material incorporated into modern cultivars from several of wheat's undomesticated relatives by breeders over the century. These wheat relatives have been used by breeders to improve disease resistance and stress resistance of wheat. One of these relatives contributed a DNA segment to modern wheat that contains disease-resistant genes and provides protection against a number of fungal diseases. The collaboration showed that this segment can improve yields by as much as 10 percent.
The group also used the genome sequences to isolate an insect-resistant gene (called Sm1) that enables wheat plants to withstand the orange wheat blossom midge, a pest which can cause hundreds of millions of dollars to farmers.
