This Landmark Study Has Created The First Global Genomic Map for Wheat Development

A study conducted by an international team led by the University of Saskatchewan has sequenced the genomes for 15 wheat varieties from wheat studies around the world. This compendium of data (a wheat pan-genome) will enable breeders and scientific teams around the world to identify targeted genes for improvement at a much more accelerated pace.

This study - the 10+ Genome Project - involved more than 95 scientists from universities and institutes from Canada, Switzerland, Germany, Japan, the UK, Saudi Arabia, the U.S., Mexico, Israel, and Australia, and is noted as being the most comprehensive map of wheat genomes ever created.

Wheat accounts for approximately 20 percent of the total human caloric intake, and in 2018 the University of Saskatchewan had a role in mapping the genome for the bread wheat variety Chinese Spring, the first complete wheat genome to be referenced.

Now, just two years later, the 10+ Genome Project has mapped wheat varieties on a global scale. And even though this is a significant achievement, it is only the beginning toward thousands more wheat genomes being mapped, including those of related wild varieties.

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