Genomics in wheat improvement: Progress and perspectives

Abstract

Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) remains a major source of food and calories globally, yet its vast genome, polyploidy, and high number of repetitive sequences make genomic research challenging in this crop. In this review, we discuss the progress and future perspectives of genome research in wheat. Current efforts focus on the establishment of genome assemblies, advances in functional genomics, advances in epigenetics, translational genetics, and CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing offers a powerful tool for site-specific genome editing for wheat improvement and functional genetic analysis. These approaches have elucidated the genetic basis of many important agronomic traits such as grain yield, biotic and abiotic stress, and wheat quality. Future aims are expected to expand to pan-genomics, the mechanism of wheat domestication, funnel the outputs of functional genomics for deployment in wheat breeding, multi-omics studies facilitate genetic dissection, and the era of big data: creation, integration and utilization, and artificial intelligence breeding.