Updated guidelines for gene nomenclature in wheat

Authors: BODEN, SCOTT - University Of Adelaide; MCINTOSH, ROBERT - University Of Sydney; UAUY, CRITOBAL - John Innes Center; KRATTINGER, SIMON - King Abdullah University Of Science And Technology; DUBCOVSKY, JORGE - University Of California, Davis; ROGERS, WJ - Universidad Nacional Del Sur (UNS); XIA, XC - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences; BADAEVA, EKATERINA - Vavilov Institute; BENTLEY, ALLISON - International Maize & Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT); Brown-Guedira, Gina; CACCAMO, MARIO - National Institute Of Agricultural Botany (NIAB); CATTIVELLI, LUIGI - Crea - Research Centre For Genomics And Bioinformatics; CHHUNEJA, P - Punjab Agricultural University; COCKRAM, J - National Institute Of Agricultural Botany (NIAB); CONTRERAS-MOREIRA, B - Estaciòn Experimental Aula Dei- Csic; DREISIGACKER, S - International Maize & Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT); EDWARDS, DAVE - University Of Western Australia; GONZALEZ, FG - Consejo Nacional De Investigaciones Científicas Y Técnicas(CONICET); GUZMAN, CARLOS - Universidad De Cordoba; IKEDA, TM - National Agricultural Research Organization - Japan (NARO); KARSAI, ELKH - Centre For Agriculture & Biosciences International (CABI); NASUDA, SHUHEI - Kyoto University; POZNIAK, CURTIS - University Of Saskatchewan; PRINS, R - Stellenbosch University; Sen, Taner; SILVA, P - Instituto Nacional De Investigaciones Forestales Y Agropecuarias (INIFAP); SIMKOVA, H - Czech Academy Of Sciences; ZHANG, Y - Fudan University

Submitted to: Theoretical and Applied Genetics
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/10/2022
Publication Date: 3/23/2023
Citation: Boden, S.A., McIntosh, R.A., Uauy, C., Krattinger, S., Dubcovsky, J., Rogers, W., Xia, X., Badaeva, E.D., Bentley, A.R., Brown Guedira, G.L., Caccamo, M., Cattivelli, L., Chhuneja, P., Cockram, J., Contreras-Moreira, B., Dreisigacker, S., Edwards, D., Gonzalez, F., Guzman, C., Ikeda, T., Karsai, E.I., Nasuda, S., Pozniak, C., Prins, R., Sen, T.Z., Silva, P., Simkova, H., Zhang, Y. 2023. Updated guidelines for gene nomenclature in wheat. Theoretical and Applied Genetics. 136. Article 72. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-023-04253-w.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-023-04253-w

Interpretive Summary: The last decade has seen a proliferation in genomic resources for wheat, including sequencing the genomes of multiple wheat varieties and identification of gene sequences. This has provided new opportunities to detect, characterize, and describe genes that influence traits of interest. This expansion of genetic information has been partnered with growth of the wheat research community and strong interest in the genes that control agronomically important traits, such as yield, pathogen resistance, grain quality, and stress tolerance. To accommodate these developments, we present a revised set of guidelines for gene nomenclature in wheat that have been agreed upon by the community. These guidelines can be used to describe genes identified based on morphological or trait features or to name genes based on sequence information, such as similarity to genes characterized in other species or the biochemical properties of the encoded protein. The revised guidelines aim to provide a flexible system of structure and a common framework for naming genes in wheat, which may be extended to related cereal species. We propose that these guidelines be used henceforth by the wheat research community to facilitate integration of data from independent studies and allow more efficient text and data mining approaches, which will ultimately help accelerate wheat research and breeding.

Technical Abstract: The last decade has seen a proliferation in genomic resources for wheat, including reference- and pan-genome assemblies with gene annotations, which provide new opportunities to detect, characterise, and describe genes that influence traits of interest. The expansion of genetic information has supported growth of the wheat research community and catalysed strong interest in the genes that control agronomically important traits, such as yield, pathogen resistance, grain quality, and abiotic stress tolerance. To accommodate these developments, we present an updated set of guidelines for gene nomenclature in wheat. These guidelines can be used to describe loci identified based on morphological or phenotypic features or to name genes based on sequence information, such as similarity to genes characterised in other species or the biochemical properties of the encoded protein. The updated guidelines provide a flexible system that is not overly prescriptive but provides structure and a common framework for naming genes in wheat, which may be extended to related cereal species. We propose these guidelines be used henceforth by the wheat research community to facilitate integration of data from independent studies and allow broader and more efficient use of text and data mining approaches, which will ultimately help further accelerate wheat research and breeding.