Wheat Genetics Resource Center: The First 25 Years

Abstract

The Wheat Genetics Resource Center, a pioneering center without walls, has served the wheat genetics community for 25 years. The Wheat Genetics Resource Center (WGRC) assembled a working collection of over 11,000 wild wheat relatives and cytogenetic stocks for conservation and use in wheat genome analysis and crop improvement. Over 30,000 samples from the WGRC collection of wheat wild relatives, cytogenetic stocks, and improved germplasm have been distributed to scientists in 45 countries and 39 states in the United States. The WGRC and collaborators have developed standard karyotypes of 26 species of the Triticum / Aegilops complex, rye, and some perennial genera of the Triticeae. They have developed over 800 cytogenetic stocks including addition, substitution, and deletion lines. The anchor karyotypes, technical innovations, and associated cytogenetic stocks are a part of the basic tool kit of every wheat geneticist. They have cytogenetically characterized over six‐dozen wheat–alien introgression lines. The WGRC has released 47 improved germplasm lines incorporating over 50 novel genes against pathogens and pests; some genes have been deployed in agriculture. The WGRC hosted over three‐dozen scientists especially from developing countries for advanced training. The WGRC was engaged in international agriculture through several collaborating projects. Particularly noteworthy was the collaborative project with Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo (CIMMYT) on the production of synthetic wheats. It is estimated that “by the year 2003–2004, 26% of all new advanced lines made available through CIMMYT screening nurseries to cooperators for either irrigated or semi‐arid conditions were synthetic derivatives.” The WGRC is applying genomics tools to further expedite the use of exotic germplasm in wheat crop improvement.