Scientists publish first wheat genome

A CONSORTIUM of scientists have published the first genome for wheat, an achievement that should benefit food security challenged by Earth’s surging population, climate change and an emerging plant pest.

British researchers said they had unravelled 95% of the genetic code for a benchmark variety of wheat known as Chinese Spring line 42.

The draft has been placed in the public domain to help spurresearch into improving wheat yields and strengthening resilience to disease, water stress and insects.

“Recent short-term price spikes in the wheat markets have shown how vulnerable our food system is to shocks and potential shortages,” said Doug Kell, head of Britain’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), a public-sector organisation which backed the work.

“The best way to support our food security is by using modern research strategies to understand how we can deliver sustainable increases in crop yields, especially in the face of climate change.”

The data comprises the “letters” of the wheat’s genetic code, albeit in an unpolished form, said Mike Bevan, a professor at the John Innes Centre, which took part in the project.

However, further work is needed to complete and assemble the draft.

“Chinese Spring is not a commercial variety of wheat, it is a benchmark laboratory strain that has been selected as suitable for studying wheat as a whole,” Bevan said.

“It’s the ‘lab rat’ of the wheat world.”

Even though the polished version is still in the works, crop scientists will probably seize on the first draft, hunting for genetic markers that point to yield characteristics and strengths or weaknesses to drought, flood, soil salinity and pests, Bevan said.

The wheat genome “is five times larger than the human genome”, said Keith Edwards of the University of Bristol. “[It] presents a huge challenge for scientists.”

Wheat accounts for 30% of global grain production and 20% of daily food calories, according to the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative, based at Cornell University, New York.