Analysis center makes wheat genome assembly available

A revised wheat genome is available from The Genome Analysis Center (TGAC) that will help secure future wheat-based food supplies.

It is organized into fewer but larger chunks of DNA and has more information that was left out of the previous version. A software program called DISCOVAR was retooled by Bernardo Clavijo, the algorithms research and development team leader at TGAC.

"One of the most complex and large groups of genes in wheat are those that contribute to the nutritional and bread-making quality of the grain," Ksenia Krasileva, group leader at TGAC and The Sainsbury Laboratory (TSL), who has conducted an initial assessment of the assemblies, said. "These are all present in complete copies in the genome, suggesting other hard-to-assemble genes are also accurately represented."

The data is available starting today for sequence searches (BLAST) at TGAC’s Grassroot Genomic platform.

"BBSRC is delighted to have supported this work, which has made an important contribution to the G20-sponsored international Wheat Initiative," Steve Visscher, deputy chief executive of the Biotechnology and Biosciences Research Council, which funded the project, said. "Many research groups are contributing to the global research effort to develop a fully assembled and aligned wheat genome sequence to access, understand and apply the richness of wheat genetic diversity to increase wheat yield, improve wheat's tolerance to stresses, pathogens and pests, and improve the sustainability of wheat production. It is fitting that this important step in unravelling the complex wheat genome, which is five times the size of the human genome, has adapted specialist software developed for the human genome assembly."