From markers to genome-based breeding in wheat

Key messageRecent technological advances in wheat genomics provide new opportunities to uncover genetic variation in traits of breeding interest and enable genome-based breeding to deliver wheat cultivars for the projected food requirements for 2050.AbstractThere has been tremendous progress in development of whole-genome sequencing resources in wheat and its progenitor species during the last 5years. High-throughput genotyping is now possiblein wheat not only for routine gene introgression but also for high-density genome-wide genotyping. This is a major transition phase to enable genome-based breeding to achieve progressive genetic gains to parallel to projected wheat production demands. These advances have intrigued wheat researchers to practice less pursued analytical approaches which were not practiced due to the short history of genome sequence availability. Such approaches have been successful in gene discovery and breeding applications in other crops and animals for which genome sequences have been available for much longer. Thesestrategies include, (i) environmentalgenome-wide association studies in wheat genetic resources stored in genbanks to identify genes for local adaptationby using agroclimatic traits as phenotypes, (ii) haplotype-based analyses to improve the statistical power and resolution of genomic selection and gene mapping experiments, (iii) new breeding strategies for genome-based prediction of heterosis patterns in wheat, and (iv) ultimate use of genomics information to develop more efficient and robust genome-wide genotyping platforms to precisely predict higher yield potential and stability with greater precision. Genome-based breeding has potential to achieve the ultimate objective of ensuring sustainable wheat production through developing high yielding, climate-resilient wheat cultivars with high nutritional quality.