Population genomic analysis of Aegilops tauschii identifies targets for bread wheat improvement.
Kumar GauravSanu AroraPaula SilvaJavier Sánchez-MartínRichard A HorsnellLiangliang GaoGurcharn Singh BrarVictoria WidrigW John RauppNarinder SinghShuangye WuSandip M KaleCatherine ChinoyPaul NicholsonJesús Quiroz-ChávezJames SimmondsSadiye HaytaMark A SmedleyWendy A HarwoodSuzannah PearceDavid GilbertNgonidzashe KangaraCatherine GardenerMacarena Forner-MartínezJiaqian LiuGuotai YuScott A BodenAttilio PascucciSreya GhoshAmber N HafeezTom O'HaraJoshua WaitesJitender CheemaBurkhard SteuernagelMehran PatpourAnnemarie Fejer JustesenShuyu LiuJackie C RuddRaz AvniMingzhe ZhangBarbara SteinerRizky Pasthika KiranaHermann BuerstmayrAli Ashraf MehrabiFiruza Y NasyrovaNoam ChayutOadi MatnyBrian J SteffensonNitika SandhuParveen ChhunejaEvans S LagudahAhmed F ElkotSimon TyrrellXingdong BianRobert P DaveyMartin SimonsenLeif SchauserVijay K TiwariH Randy KutcherPierre HuclAili LiDeng-Cai LiuLong MaoSteven S XuGina L Brown-GuediraJustin D FarisJan DvorakMing-Cheng LuoKsenia V KrasilevaThomas M LuxSusanne ArtmeierKlaus F X MayerCristobal UauyMartin MascherAlison R BentleyBeat KellerJesse A PolandBrande B H WulffPublished in: Nature biotechnology (2021)
Aegilops tauschii, the diploid wild progenitor of the D subgenome of bread wheat, is a reservoir of genetic diversity for improving bread wheat performance and environmental resilience. Here we sequenced 242 Ae. tauschii accessions and compared them to the wheat D subgenome to characterize genomic diversity. We found that a rare lineage of Ae. tauschii geographically restricted to present-day Georgia contributed to the wheat D subgenome in the independent hybridizations that gave rise to modern bread wheat. Through k-mer-based association mapping, we identified discrete genomic regions with candidate genes for disease and pest resistance and demonstrated their functional transfer into wheat by transgenesis and wide crossing, including the generation of a library of hexaploids incorporating diverse Ae. tauschii genomes. Exploiting the genomic diversity of the Ae. tauschii ancestral diploid genome permits rapid trait discovery and functional genetic validation in a hexaploid background amenable to breeding.