Abstract
The genus Aegilops contains a diverse collection of wild species exhibiting variation in geographical distribution, ecological adaptation, ploidy and genome organization. Aegilops is the most closely related genus to Triticum which includes cultivated wheat, a globally important crop that has a limited gene pool for modern breeding. Aegilops species are a potential future resource for wheat breeding for traits, such as adaptation to different ecological conditions and pest and disease resistance. This study describes the development and application of the first high-throughput genotyping platform specifically designed for screening wheat relative species. The platform was used to screen multiple accessions representing all species in the genus Aegilops. Firstly, the data was demonstrated to be useful for screening diversity and examining relationships within and between Aegilops species. Secondly, markers able to characterize and track introgressions from Aegilops species in hexaploid wheat were identified and validated using two different approaches.
Highlights
Aegilops is a genus of Eurasian annual grasses in the Poaceae known as the goatgrasses
Of the 36,711 SNPs on the wheat relative array 34,602 (94.3%) were polymorphic in the entire collection of Aegilops accessions used in the study (Supplementary File 2)
This study describes the development and application of the first high-throughput genotyping platform designed for screening wheat relative species
Summary
Aegilops is a genus of Eurasian annual grasses in the Poaceae known as the goatgrasses. The genus Aegilops is the most closely related to the genus Triticum, which contains Triticum aestivum (bread wheat) and other domesticated wheats. Researchers have suggested that Aegilops and Triticum should be combined into a single evolutionary complex or even the same genus (Yamane and Kawahara, 2005). The close genetic relationship is evidenced by the numerous hybridisations that occur between members of both genera and by the presence of Aegilops in the evolutionary history of many Triticum species. Where geographic distributions are similar, gene flow has occurred between species; some species, such as Aegilops cylindrica have spread with wheat and have become uncontrollable weeds in wheat (Donal and Ogg, 1991). Aegilops appears to be basal to Triticum, with evidence indicating the genus’ Triticum and Aegilops diverged an estimated 4 million years ago (Huang et al, 2002)
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