HebQTLs reveal intra-subgenome regulation inducing unbalanced expression and function among bread wheat homoeologs.

Background: Polyploidy contains multiple gene copies, known as homoeologs. Differential expression of homoeologs confers expression plasticity and facilitates the adaptation and domestication of major polyploid crops. However, how this homoeolog expression bias is produced and genetically regulated remains elusive.

Stigma longevity is not a major limiting factor in hybrid wheat seed production.

Hybrids offer a promising approach to improve crop performance because the progeny are often superior to their parent lines and they outyield inbred varieties. A major challenge in producing hybrid progeny in wheat, however, lies in the inefficient fertilization of maternal parent ovaries by airborne pollen from male donor lines. This is often attributed to suboptimal synchronisation of male and female flowering as delayed pollination can result in reproductive failure due to female stigma deterioration.

Partial redundancy buffers deleterious effects of mutating DNA methyltransferase 1-1 (MET1-1) in polyploid wheat.

DNA methylation plays important roles in gene expression, transposable element silencing, and genome stability. Altering DNA methylation could generate additional phenotypic variation for crop breeding, however the lethality of epigenetic mutants in crop species has hindered its investigation. Here, we exploit partial redundancy between homoeologues in polyploid wheat to generate viable mutants in the DNA methyltransferase 1-1 (MET1-1) gene with altered methylation profiles.

Autoactive CNGC15 enhances root endosymbiosis in legume and wheat.

Nutrient acquisition is crucial for sustaining life. Plants develop beneficial intracellular partnerships with arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) and nitrogen-fixing bacteria to surmount the scarcity of soil nutrients and tap into atmospheric dinitrogen, respectively. Initiation of these root endosymbioses requires symbiont-induced oscillations in nuclear calcium (Ca) concentrations in root cells.

FIGL1 prevents aberrant chromosome associations and fragmentation and limits crossovers in polyploid wheat meiosis.

Meiotic crossovers (COs) generate genetic diversity and are crucial for viable gamete production. Plant COs are typically limited to 1-3 per chromosome pair, constraining the development of improved varieties, which in wheat is exacerbated by an extreme distal localisation bias. Advances in wheat genomics and related technologies provide new opportunities to investigate, and possibly modify, recombination in this important crop species.

Delayed development of basal spikelets in wheat explains their increased floret abortion and rudimentary nature.

Large differences exist in the number of grains per spikelet across an individual wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) spike. The central spikelets produce the highest number of grains, while apical and basal spikelets are less productive, and the most basal spikelets are commonly only developed in rudimentary form.

Root angle is controlled by in cereal crops employing an antigravitropic mechanism.

Root angle in crops represents a key trait for efficient capture of soil resources. Root angle is determined by competing gravitropic versus antigravitropic offset (AGO) mechanisms. Here we report a root angle regulatory gene termed () that encodes a putative AGO component, whose loss-of-function enhances root gravitropism.

FANCM promotes class I interfering crossovers and suppresses class II non-interfering crossovers in wheat meiosis.

FANCM suppresses crossovers in plants by unwinding recombination intermediates. In wheat, crossovers are skewed toward the chromosome ends, thus limiting generation of novel allelic combinations. Here, we observe that FANCM maintains the obligate crossover in tetraploid and hexaploid wheat, thus ensuring that every chromosome pair exhibits at least one crossover, by localizing class I crossover protein HEI10 at pachytene.

MicroRNA-resistant alleles of modify inflorescence branching and increase grain protein content of wheat.

Plant and inflorescence architecture determine the yield potential of crops. Breeders have harnessed natural diversity for inflorescence architecture to improve yields, and induced genetic variation could provide further gains. Wheat is a vital source of protein and calories; however, little is known about the genes that regulate the development of its inflorescence.

High expression of the MADS-box gene VRT2 increases the number of rudimentary basal spikelets in wheat.

Spikelets are the fundamental building blocks of Poaceae inflorescences, and their development and branching patterns determine the various inflorescence architectures and grain yield of grasses. In wheat (Triticum aestivum), the central spikelets produce the most and largest grains, while spikelet size gradually decreases acropetally and basipetally, giving rise to the characteristic lanceolate shape of wheat spikes. The acropetal gradient corresponds with the developmental age of spikelets; however, the basal spikelets are developed first, and the cause of their small size and rudimentary development is unclear.

Trend, population structure, and trait mapping from 15 years of national varietal trials of UK winter wheat.

There are now a rich variety of genomic and genotypic resources available to wheat researchers and breeders. However, the generation of high-quality and field-relevant phenotyping data which is required to capture the complexities of gene × environment interactions remains a major bottleneck. Historical datasets from national variety performance trials (NVPT) provide sufficient dimensions, in terms of numbers of years and locations, to examine phenotypic trends and study gene × environment interactions.

encodes a STERILE ALPHA MOTIF-containing protein that controls root growth angle in barley and wheat.

The root growth angle defines how roots grow toward the gravity vector and is among the most important determinants of root system architecture. It controls water uptake capacity, nutrient use efficiency, stress resilience, and, as a consequence, yield of crop plants. We demonstrated that the () mutant of barley exhibits steeper root growth of seminal and lateral roots and an auxin-independent higher responsiveness to gravity compared to wild-type plants.

Ectopic expression of Triticum polonicum VRT-A2 underlies elongated glumes and grains in hexaploid wheat in a dosage-dependent manner.

Flower development is an important determinant of grain yield in crops. In wheat (Triticum spp.), natural variation for the size of spikelet and floral organs is particularly evident in Triticum turgidum ssp.

Identification of Fusarium head blight resistance loci in two Brazilian wheat mapping populations.

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a disease of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) that causes major yield losses in South America, as well as many other wheat growing regions around the world. FHB results in low quality, contaminated grain due to the production of mycotoxins such as deoxynivalenol (DON).

A haplotype-led approach to increase the precision of wheat breeding.

Crop productivity must increase at unprecedented rates to meet the needs of the growing worldwide population. Exploiting natural variation for the genetic improvement of crops plays a central role in increasing productivity. Although current genomic technologies can be used for high-throughput identification of genetic variation, methods for efficiently exploiting this genetic potential in a targeted, systematic manner are lacking.

Dissecting the genetic basis of wheat blast resistance in the Brazilian wheat cultivar BR 18-Terena.

Background: Wheat blast, caused by Magnaporthe oryzae Triticum (MoT) pathotype, is a global threat to wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production. Few blast resistance (R) genes have been identified to date, therefore assessing potential sources of resistance in wheat is important.

Genetic Characterization of a Wheat Association Mapping Panel Relevant to Brazilian Breeding Using a High-Density Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Array.

Bread wheat ( L.) is one of the world's most important crops. Maintaining wheat yield gains across all of its major production areas is a key target toward underpinning global food security.

Agricultural Selection of Wheat Has Been Shaped by Plant-Microbe Interactions.

The influence of wheat (modern wheat, both bread and pasta, their wild ancestors and synthetic hybrids) on the microbiota of their roots and surrounding soil is characterized. We isolated lines of bread wheat by hybridizing diploid () with tetraploid and crossed it with a modern cultivar of . The newly created, synthetic hybrid wheat, which recapitulate the breeding history of wheat through artificial selection, is found to support a microbiome enriched in beneficial Glomeromycetes fungi, but also in, potentially detrimental, Nematoda.

A carbohydrate-binding protein, B-GRANULE CONTENT 1, influences starch granule size distribution in a dose-dependent manner in polyploid wheat.

In Triticeae endosperm (e.g. wheat and barley), starch granules have a bimodal size distribution (with A- and B-type granules) whereas in other grasses the endosperm contains starch granules with a unimodal size distribution.

Identification of Transcription Factors Regulating Senescence in Wheat through Gene Regulatory Network Modelling.

Senescence is a tightly regulated developmental program coordinated by transcription factors. Identifying these transcription factors in crops will provide opportunities to tailor the senescence process to different environmental conditions and regulate the balance between yield and grain nutrient content. Here, we use ten time points of gene expression data along with gene network modeling to identify transcription factors regulating senescence in polyploid wheat ().

Speed breeding in growth chambers and glasshouses for crop breeding and model plant research.

'Speed breeding' (SB) shortens the breeding cycle and accelerates crop research through rapid generation advancement. SB can be carried out in numerous ways, one of which involves extending the duration of plants' daily exposure to light, combined with early seed harvest, to cycle quickly from seed to seed, thereby reducing the generation times for some long-day (LD) or day-neutral crops. In this protocol, we present glasshouse and growth chamber-based SB approaches with supporting data from experimentation with several crops.

Heat in Wheat: Exploit Reverse Genetic Techniques to Discover New Alleles Within the sHsp26 Family.

Wheat breeding nowadays must address producers and consumers' desire. According to the last FAO report, a dramatic decrease in wheat production is expected in the next decades mainly due to the upcoming climate change. The identification of the processes which are triggered by heat stress and how thermotolerance develops in wheat is an active research topic.