Wild Emmer's diverse traits offer potential innovation for modern wheat cultivation

A study on 263 wild emmer accessions revealed significant trait diversity and potential, suggesting their gene pool could enhance modern wheat cultivation. The study was published by Shanjida Rahman, Dr. Shahidul Islam, Prof. Rajeev Varshney and four others on March 25.

Wheat, accounting for 8% of global primary crop production, thrives in diverse climates and soils, ranging from cold to warm temperatures and various elevations, according to the study. This versatility is rooted in its rich evolutionary history, starting with wild emmer wheat's formation from a cross between Triticum urartu and Aegilops speltoides. Wild emmer, a foundational component in the development of modern wheat varieties like durum and bread wheat, began its domestication journey about 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent, spanning Israel to western Iran. Geographically, wild emmer is divided into northern and southern groups. While the exact origin of domestication remains debated—ranging from southeastern Turkey to northwestern Turkey—research indicates possible independent domestication events in both areas.

Wild emmer's prominence as the ancestral source of today's durum and bread wheat has led to a focus on researching its grain quality and its resilience against various stresses, according to the study. However, its potential diversity in agronomic and morphological attributes has not been exhaustively probed. A recent examination analyzed 263 wild emmer samples from diverse regions including Israel, Turkey, Lebanon and Syria. These samples were evaluated for 19 distinct agronomic and shoot-related characteristics, with experiments conducted in Western Australia highlighting substantial variability. Shannon’s diversity index, employed to quantify this variation, registered an average phenotypic diversity of 0.91.

The study also states that a significant portion of these traits exhibited high heritability, pinpointing biomass per plant and yield per plant as the most influential attributes. Analysis revealed noteworthy relationships among various traits, most notably, a pronounced positive association between yield and attributes like tiller count, initial leaf area, spike length and plant biomass. Utilizing principal component analysis, it was observed that a majority of these traits were integral to the overall diversity noted. While cluster analysis grouped the 263 accessions into five typical clusters, they were alternatively sorted into eight groups when considering their collection origin. Notable differences, especially in aspects like plant height and flag leaf area, were evident among these populations. Interestingly, a selection of wild emmer samples, despite their comparatively lower yield, outperformed current bread wheat variants when multiple traits were prioritized during selection. Such findings underscore wild emmer's expansive genetic repertoire, presenting opportunities to refine and advance modern wheat cultivation.

Agriculture. Shanjida Rahman, et al., Characterizing Agronomic and Shoot Morphological Diversity across 263 Wild Emmer Wheat Accessions, MDPI (2023). DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13040759