Gene editing reveals why farmed wheat lost its rain-sprouting resistance
Seed Saving
Soggy weather before harvest can cause wheat grains to sprout right on the stalk, ruining entire fields before they're ever cut, and understanding the genes behind dormancy could give breeders the tools to stop that from happening.
Seeds have a built-in pause button that keeps them from sprouting too early. Farmers bred wheat and barley to sprout quickly and easily, but that accidentally removed this pause button, leaving crops vulnerable to sprouting in rainy weather before harvest. This research is hunting for the specific genes that control that pause button, using a small wild grass as a test subject, and then using precise gene-editing to confirm how each one works.
Key Findings
Seed dormancy, the trait delaying germination, has been largely eliminated from major crops like wheat and barley through centuries of artificial selection.
Brachypodium distachyon, a wild model grass, retains strong and genetically diverse seed dormancy, making it ideal for studying the regulatory mechanisms lost in crops.
The project combines next-generation genetic mapping to discover novel dormancy regulators with CRISPR mutagenesis to confirm their function.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Researchers are using a model grass plant to decode why wheat and barley lost the ability to stay dormant as seeds, a trait that helps grains survive on the plant without sprouting prematurely. By identifying the genetic switches controlling dormancy, they hope to restore this protection in crops and prevent costly pre-harvest losses.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Transities in levenscycluskenmerken bij gematigde grassen
Seed dormancy is an attribute in plants that delays seed germination. In economically significant crops like wheat and barley, this trait is mainly lost due to artificial selection. This can result...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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