New wheat and barley genomes will help feed the world

An international research collaboration, including scientists from the University of Adelaide's Waite Research Institute, has unlocked new genetic variation in wheat and barley—a major boost for the global effort in breeding ...

International team decodes the durum wheat genome

An international consortium has sequenced the entire genome of durum wheat—the source of semolina for pasta, a food staple for the world's population, according to an article published today in Nature Genetics.

Genome of wheat ancestor sequenced

Sequencing the bread wheat genome has long been considered an almost insurmountable task, due to its enormous size and complexity. Yet it is vitally important for the global food supply, providing more than 20 percent of ...

'Most famous wheat gene' found

Washington State University researchers have found "the most famous wheat gene," a reproductive traffic cop of sorts that can be used to transfer valuable genes from other plants to wheat.

Scientists complete chromosome-based draft of the wheat genome

Several Kansas State University researchers were essential in helping scientists assemble a draft of a genetic blueprint of bread wheat, also known as common wheat. The food plant is grown on more than 531 million acres around ...

Sexual reproduction only second choice for powdery mildew

Powdery mildew is one of the most dreaded plant diseases: The parasitic fungus afflicts crops such as wheat and barley and is responsible for large harvest shortfalls every year. Beat Keller and Thomas Wicker, both plant ...

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Wheat

T. aestivum T. aethiopicum T. araraticum T. boeoticum T. carthlicum T. compactum T. dicoccoides T. dicoccon T. durum T. ispahanicum T. karamyschevii T. macha T. militinae T. monococcum T. polonicum T. spelta T. sphaerococcum T. timopheevii T. turanicum T. turgidum T. urartu T. vavilovii T. zhukovskyi References:   ITIS 42236 2002-09-22

Wheat (Triticum spp.) is a worldwide cultivated grass from the Fertile Crescent region of the Near East. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize (784 million tons) and rice (651 million tons). Wheat grain is a staple food used to make flour for leavened, flat and steamed breads; biscuits, cookies, cakes, breakfast cereal, pasta, juice, noodles, and couscous; and for fermentation to make beer, alcohol, vodka, or biofuel. Wheat is planted to a limited extent as a forage crop for livestock, and the straw can be used as fodder for livestock or as a construction material for roofing thatch.

Although wheat supplies much of the world's dietary protein and food supply, as many as one in every 100 to 200 people has Celiac disease, a condition which results from an immune system response to a protein found in wheat: gluten (based on figures for the United States).

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