Genome-Informed Discovery of Genes and Framework of Functional Genes in Wheat

Abstract

The complete reference genome of wheat was released in 2018 (IWGSC in Science 361:eaar7191, 2018), and since then many wheats genomic resources have been developed in a short period of time. These resources include resequencing of several hundred wheat varieties, exome capture from thousands of wheat germplasm lines, large-scale RNAseq studies, and complete genome sequences with de novo assemblies of 17 important cultivars. These genomic resources provide impetus for accelerated gene discovery and manipulation of genes for genetic improvement in wheat. The groundwork for this prospect includes the discovery of more than 200 genes using classical gene mapping techniques and comparative genomics approaches to explain moderate to major phenotypic variations in wheat. Similarly, QTL repositories are available in wheat which are frequently used by wheat genetics researchers and breeding communities for reference. The current wheat genome annotation is currently lagging in pinpointing the already discovered genes and QTL, and annotation of such information on the wheat genome sequence can significantly improve its value as a reference document to be used in wheat breeding. We aligned the currently discovered genes to the reference genome, provide their position and TraesIDs, and present a framework to annotate such genes in future.