Greatest thing since sliced bread: New data offer important clues toward improving wheat yields

New article in the journal Genetics shows that gene expression in wheat is more than just the sum of its parts

Breed a better crop of wheat? That's exactly what a team of researchers from Kansas State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture hope their research will lead to. In their study, appearing in the March 2009 issue of the journal GENETICS (http://www.genetics.org), they analyzed the type of wheat commonly used to make bread in an effort to understand why it is versatile enough to be used around the world and across different climates. This analysis provides important insights into why its genetic structure gives it a tremendous advantage over other competing species. Further, their analysis provides an important first step toward improving wheat crop yields to levels that can support ever-growing populations of people.

Unlike people who have only two copies of each gene—one from each parent—plants used for bread wheat have six copies of each gene—three copies are inherited from each "parent." Just as is the case with people, these gene copies work in concert to produce characteristics and traits that allow the plant to survive and thrive. Understanding gene expression in wheat is complex, not only because there are so many variants of each gene which could be active at different times, but as the study shows, combinations of different genes may be active to produce entirely different plant characteristics than what each individual gene could on its own.

The researchers found that more than 1 in every 10 genes may be affected by the phenomenon, and that this is likely to be the cause of why the wheat used for bread is remarkably hearty. Furthermore, they found that a relatively high percentage (1.7 percent) of genes may be candidates for further study and selective breeding when trying to develop new strains of wheat with higher yields or more resistant to the environmental strain brought about by global warming.

"With the human population predicted to reach 9 billion by 2050, we must increase wheat yield at the rate of 2 percent per year per unit area," said Bikram S. Gill of Kansas State University, and the senior scientist involved in the study. "Wheat is a human staple that holds the key for better quality of life for billions."