A collaboration between international researchers, including those from the University of Adelaide's Waite Research Institute, recently revealed a new genetic variation in wheat and barley: a significant improvement for the global initiative in breeding varieties of higher-yielding barley and wheat.
Reports on this latest development said that researchers from the "10+ Wheat Genomes Project" led by Canada-based University of Saskatchewan, Canada, and the International Barley Pan Genome Sequencing Consortium led by Germany-based Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research or IPK's Professor Nils Stein, have sequenced a set of genomes of both cereals.
Results of the study were published on November 25 in the Nature journal. In their research, the researchers said, their findings would open the doors "to the next generation of wheat and barley varieties."
Wheat And Barley as Staple Food Crops
According to Ken Chalmers, associate professor at the University of Adelaide, wheat and barley "are staple food crops all over the world, but their production has to "increase dramatically to meet future demands."
Chalmers, along with his School of Agriculture, Food & Wine colleague, Professor Emeritus Peter Langridge, led the Adelaide study.
Murdoch University's Professor Chengdao Li, who also played a vital role in the Australian component of the barley sequencing said, it is approximated that wheat production alone needs to increase by over 50 percent over present levels by 2050 "to feed the growing population."
The recently published study brings researchers closer to unveiling the whole gene set, "or pan genomes, of wheat and barley."
By understanding the entire extent of genetic variation in wheat and barley, scientists, as well as plant breeders, will have the essential tools to realize the required increased worldwide production.
The 'Pan Genome'
Advances in genomics, explained Professor Langridge, have fast-tracked breeding, as well as improvement of yield and quality in crops, which include. However, similar initiatives in wheat and barley have been more difficult.
This is mainly because of the "size and complexity of their genomes," researchers' limited knowledge of the key genes controlling yield, "and the lack of genome assembly data for multiple lines of interest to breeders," added the professor.
Langridge also said modern cultivars of wheat and barley carry an array of gene variants and assorted genomic structures that are linked to essential traits like increased yield, drought tolerance, and resistance to illness.
Such variation, the professor continued explaining, cannot be captured with just one genome sequence. He elaborated, only by sequencing numerous and varied genomes "we can begin" understanding the entire genetic variation's extent from all over the world.
Multiple Varieties of Wheat and Barley Sequenced
The two international research have reportedly sequenced multiple varieties of wheat and barley from all over the world. Specifically, the Adelaide component was backed by the GRDC or the Grains Research and Development Corporation.
The information produced through the collaborative efforts has disclosed the dynamics of genomics assembly as well as the formerly hidden genetic variation of these essential crops. It also exhibited how breeders have attained major enhancements in productivity.
Check out more news and information on Crops on Science Times.
