Milling & Baking News - December 15, 2020 - 32

Education and Research

Scientists unlock a wheat map seen
as key to doubling production
many complete gene assemblies available, we can now help solve the huge
puzzle that is the massive wheat pangenome and usher in a new era for
wheat discovery and breeding. "
Several agricultural crops already
have been improved through genomic
research. But the size and complexity
of the wheat genome and the lack of
genome-assembly data for multiple
wheat lines made a thorough mapping of wheat far more challenging.
The study, " Multiple wheat genomes reveal global variation in modern breeding, " explored the diversity

drive yield and quality characteristics
and resist pests and disease.
The project was shepherded by
Curtis Pozniak, PhD, a professor and
director of the University of Saskatchewan's Crop Development Centre.
He is also a wheat breeder who has
overseen the release of 15 new wheat
varieties over 17 years.
" This resource enables us to more
precisely control breeding to increase
the rate of wheat improvement for
the benefit of farmers and consumers,
and meet future food demands, " Dr.
Pozniak told the university's news
division.
Wheat's role in global food security cannot be underestimated as the
world looks ahead to increased global
demand. As one of the world's most
cultivated cereal crops, wheat provides about 20% of human caloric intake across the globe. Food scientists
have estimated world wheat production needs to increase 50% by 2050 to
meet demand.
" It's like finding the missing pieces for your favorite puzzle that you
have been working on for decades, "
Dr. Pozniak commented. " By having

among wheat lines from global breeding programs. The 15 lines were preselected, but field experiments were
randomized without predetermined
sample sizes, according to the study
published Nov. 25 in Nature.
From the study's summary: " Comparative analysis revealed extensive
structural rearrangements, introgressions from wild relatives and differences in gene content resulting from
complex breeding histories aimed at
improving adaptation to diverse environments, grain yield and quality, and
resistance to stresses. "
The 10+ Genome Project is planned
as the first step in a larger effort to
generate thousands more wheat genome sequences, including those of
wheat's wild relatives. The project allowed researchers to track DNA signatures of genetic material in modern
cultivars incorporated over several
centuries from wheat's undomesticated relatives.
Collaborators included scientists
from Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kan., who helped isolate a disease-resistance gene, Dr. Pozniak said.
" These wheat relatives have been

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KANSAS CITY - Scientists from
around the world contributed to a
new study thought to allow wheat
breeders to improve global crop yield,
quality and resistance to pests to better meet global demand, which is expected to more than double by 2050.
The 10+ Genome Project sequenced
and analyzed the genomes of 15 wheat
varieties in what has been called the
most comprehensive atlas of wheat
genome sequences ever documented.
It is hoped that the atlas will serve
as a roadmap to help wheat breeders
quickly identify influential genes that

32 / December 15, 2020

Milling & Baking News

used by breeders to improve disease
resistance and stress resistance of
wheat, " he said. " One of these relatives contributed a DNA segment to
modern wheat that contains diseaseresistant genes and provides protection against a number of fungal diseases. Our collaborators from Kansas
State University and the International
Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico showed that this segment can improve yields by as much
as 1%. Since breeding is a continual
improvement process, we can continue to cross plants to select for this
valuable trait. "
Other scientists used the genome
sequences to isolate an insect-resistant
gene that lets a plant withstand the
orange wheat blossom midge, a pest
that can cause upwards of $60 million
in annual losses to Western Canadian
producers.
" Understanding a causal gene like
this is a game-changer for breeding
because you can select for pest resistance more efficiently by using a
simple DNA test than by manual field
testing, " Dr. Pozniak said.
The University of Saskatchewan
team was part of another international
collective that in 2018 decoded the genome for the bread wheat variety Chinese Spring. A study was published in
Science.
" Now we have increased the number of wheat genome sequences more
than 10-fold, enabling us to identify
genetic differences between wheat
lines that are important for breeding, "
he said. " We can now compare and
contrast the full complement of the
genetic differences that make each variety unique. "
The speed with which the 10+ project followed the Chinese Spring mapping impressed plant scientists.
" Given the significant impact of the
Chinese Spring reference genome on
research and application, it is a major
achievement that just two years later
we are providing additional sequence
resources that are relevant to wheat
improvement programs in many different parts of the world, " said Nils
Stein of the Leibniz Institute of Plant
Genetics and Crop Plant Research
who served as a project co-leader from
Germany.
The 10+ Genome Project combined
the research of more than 95 scientists from universities and institutes
in Australia, Canada, Germany, Israel,
Japan, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the
United States. MBN
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Milling & Baking News - December 15, 2020

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