Bread wheat is a complex plant, with up to 124,000 genes, more than twice the number in rice, the other major food grain of the world. The vast number of genes made some researchers doubt if it is possible to map the genome – “to figure out how its genes are ordered so that specific traits can be more quickly identified. But a group made up of scientists, breeders and growers say that they’re more than halfway there and that an entire sequence is on the horizon,” says the Washington Post.
The International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium announced the progress and published a draft sequence in the journal Science. “As of today, researchers in the IWGSC estimate that the full genome sequence will be available within three years,” it said in a statement. Genome sequencing would make it easier to breed higher-yielding varieties or develop traits such as disease or drought resistance.
To read the article in Science, click here.