Chromosome-level haplotype-resolved genome assembly of bread wheat’s wild relative Aegilops mutica

Authors: GREWAL, SURBHI - University Of Nottingham; YANG, CAI-YUN - University Of Nottingham; KRASHENINNIKOVA, KSENIA - Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute; COLLINS, JOANNA - Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute; WOOD, JO - Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute; ASHLING, STEPHEN - University Of Nottingham; SCHOLEFIELD, DUNCUN - University Of Nottingham; KAITHAKOTTIL, GEMMY - Earlham Institute; SWARBRECK, DAVID - Earlham Institute; Yao, Eric; Sen, Taner; KING, IAN - University Of Nottingham; KING, JULIE - University Of Nottingham

Submitted to: Scientific Data - Nature
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/28/2025
Publication Date: 3/13/2025
Citation: Grewal, S., Yang, C., Krasheninnikova, K., Collins, J., Wood, J., Ashling, S., Scholefield, D., Kaithakottil, G.G., Swarbreck, D., Yao, E., Sen, T.Z., King, I., King, J. 2024. Chromosome-level haplotype-resolved genome assembly of bread wheat’s wild relative Aegilops mutica. Scientific Data - Nature. 12. Article 438. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-04737-y.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-04737-y

Interpretive Summary: Food security is an increasingly pressing issue due to the growing global population and the limitations of finite resources. To address this, wheat breeders depend on new sources of genetic variation to develop high-yielding, resilient wheat varieties capable of withstanding various biotic and abiotic stresses. Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) is a vital staple crop, with an urgent need for increased production to help feed the world's growing population. The Aegilops (goatgrass) genus is one of the most promising genera harbouring diversity and beneficial alleles that can be exploited for wheat improvement3-6Aegilops mutica is a diploid wild relative of wheat carrying valuable agronomic traits resulting in its extensive exploitation for wheat improvement. This paper reports a chromosome-scale genome assembly of Ae. mutica. The genome assembly of Ae. mutica provides a valuable resource for the wheat breeding community, facilitating faster and more efficient pre-breeding of wheat to enhance food security.

Technical Abstract: Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) is a vital staple crop, with an urgent need for increased production to help feed the world's growing population. Aegilops mutica (2n = 2x = 14; T genome) is a diploid wild relative of wheat carrying valuable agronomic traits resulting in its extensive exploitation for wheat improvement. This paper reports a chromosome-scale haplotype-resolved genome assembly of Ae. mutica using HiFi reads and Omni-C data. The final lengths for the curated genomes were ~ 4.65 Gb (haplotype 1) and 4.56 Gb (haplotype 2), featuring a contig N50 of ~4.35 Mb and ~4.60 Mb, respectively. Genome annotation predicted 96,723 gene models and repeats. In summary, the genome assembly of Ae. mutica provides a valuable resource for the wheat breeding community, facilitating faster and more efficient pre-breeding of wheat to enhance food security.