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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fargo, North Dakota » Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center » Cereal Crops Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #131012
Title: WHEAT GENOMICS: EXPLORING THE POLYPLOID MODEL.

Author
item Faris, Justin
item FRIEBE, BERND - PLNT PATH, KSU, MANHATTAN
item GILL, BIKRAM - PLNT PATH, KSU, MANHATTAN

Submitted to: Current Genomics
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/1/2002
Publication Date: 11/2/2002
Citation: FARIS, J.D., FRIEBE, B., GILL, B.S. WHEAT GENOMICS: EXPLORING THE POLYPLOID MODEL.. CURRENT GENOMICS. 2002. VOL. 3:577-591.

Interpretive Summary: Wheat is the most consumed grain crop in the world. It is also an excellent model of allopolyploid inheritance. Genomic analysis of wheat is essential for understanding the genetic mechanisms underlying allopolyploid evolution and speciation as well as the biology of agronomically important traits influencing production. In spite of the large genome and polyploidy, researchers have devised novel strategies for in depth structural and functional analysis of the wheat genome. Beginning with the 1920s, wheat has been a model crop for cytogenetic studies, and a plethora of cytogenetic stocks of various types have been developed. Today, a combined cytogenetic and molecular approach has greatly advanced wheat genome analysis. Results of chromosome mapping experiments have indicated that genes are not distributed at random throughout the wheat genome, but rather exist in gene-rich recombination hot spots along the chromosomes. Recent DNA sequencing experiments have verified this hypothesis, suggesting that most genes in wheat are amenable to positional cloning. Wheat is now moving into the functional genomics era as researchers focus on the expressed portion of the wheat genome. A database of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) is growing rapidly as researchers work to assign gene function. High-throughput production and identification of mutants will be necessary for the assignment of function to the many genes being discovered in wheat.

Technical Abstract: Wheat is the most consumed grain crop in the world. It is also an excellent model of allopolyploid inheritance. Genomic analysis of wheat is essential for understanding the genetic mechanisms underlying allopolyploid evolution and speciation as well as the biology of agronomically important traits influencing production. In spite of the large genome and polyploidy, researchers have devised novel strategies for in depth structural and functional analysis of the wheat genome. Beginning with the 1920s, wheat has been a model crop for cytogenetic studies, and a plethora of cytogenetic stocks of various types have been developed. Today, a combined cytogenetic and molecular approach has greatly advanced wheat genome analysis. The comparison of physical maps of wheat chromosomes based on chromosome deletion mapping with molecular genetic linkage maps led to the notion that genes were not distributed at random throughout the wheat genome, but rather exist in gene-rich recombination hot spots along the chromosomes. Recent construction and sequencing of local BAC contigs has verified this hypothesis, suggesting that most genes in wheat are amenable to positional cloning. Wheat is now moving into the functional genomics era as researchers focus on the expressed portion of the wheat genome. A database of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) is growing rapidly as researchers work to assign gene function. High-throughput production and identification of mutants will be necessary for the assignment of function to the many genes being discovered in wheat.