14 August, 2024
A genomic resource for the wild grass species Tausch’s goatgrass (Aegilops tauschii) has been developed by a team of international researchers led by KAUST. This new understanding will accelerate gene discovery research and shed new light on the story of wheat’s evolutionary genetics.
The modern bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) evolved from the hybridization of three wild grass species. One of these (Ae. tauschii) is known as the donor of the bread wheat D genome. Today, wild wheat relatives represent a genetic reservoir of potential beneficial genes that could be used to improve modern wheat varieties.
KAUST researchers, Brande Wulff and Simon Krattinger, have collaborated on many projects to clone genes from wheat and wild plant relatives, as well as identifying the role of various compounds in wheat disease resistance. Now, Ph.D. researchers in the two groups, Emile Cavalet-Giorsa and Andrea Gonzalez-Munoz, together with post doc, Naveenkumar Athiyannan, have led an international research project that establishes a comprehensive set of genomic resources for Ae. tauschii.