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Scientists were surprised after sequencing the genomes of 16 wheat varieties.
One of the most cultivated and oldest crops in the world, wheat is a genetically bizarre plant with 10 times more fertility genes than other cereal crops.
While putting the building blocks of wheat on paper during the pivotal study, the scientists found that wheat’s fertility genes were much more diverse than expected.
The finding gives hope that it will be easier than previously thought to grow wheat varieties that are less likely to self-pollinate.
Wheat’s love of self-pollination has been a major obstacle on the way to growing more prolific and hardy varieties of wheat, known as hybrids.
University of Western Australia scientists Ian Small and Joana Melonek contributed to the international study conducted by the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, working specifically on genes that control pollen fertility.
Professor Small said the team didn’t expect to find out what they did in the gene family known as Restorer-of-fertility-like (Rfl) genes.
“It was an extraordinary amount of variation,” he said.
“Even among closely related types of wheat”.
The 16 variety sequences were from wheat programs around the world.
Dr Melonek said the analysis was an important step in accelerating the many breeding programs around the world that seek to improve grain production.
“Wheat is a staple food and any improvements we can make to increase its productivity and quality will be important as the world’s population grows rapidly and food security becomes a growing problem,” he said.
Mapping the wheat genome has been a long and difficult task for scientists, but a necessary one, as global demand for wheat is estimated to increase by 50% by 2050.
University of Saskatchewan lead researcher Curtis Pozniak said that successful sequencing would allow for a more precise and controlled crossing of newer and better hybrid wheat.
I study, Multiple wheat genomes reveal global variation in modern farming (working title), is being published in the journal Nature.
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