Diversity analysis of 80,000 wheat accessions reveals consequences and opportunities of selection footprints

An international research team, including crop scientists from NIAB, genetically characterised nearly 80,000 samples of wheat from the germplasm banks of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). The analysis reveals landraces with unexplored diversity and genetic footprints, which provides fertile ground to develop wheat varieties of the future. Farmers, wheat breeders and crop scientists are all set to benefit from this discovery of genetic factors associated to yield, quality and agronomic traits in wheat.