On 17 August 2018, the IWGSC published in the international journal Science a detailed description and an analysis of the reference sequence of the bread wheat genome, the world’s most widely cultivated crop.

This work will pave the way for the production of wheat varieties better adapted to climate challenges, with higher yields, enhanced nutritional quality and improved sustainability.

The research article – authored by more than 200 scientists from 73 research institutions in 20 countries – presents the DNA sequence of the bread wheat variety Chinese Spring ordered along the 21 wheat chromosomes. It is the highest quality genome sequence produced to date for wheat.

Read the IWGSC press release and the information package about the publication (Q&A, quotes, media kit, and more).

Watch this explainer video and this interview video to learn more about the IWGSC reference sequence of bread wheat.

Jane Rogers has worked at the forefront of genomics research for over twenty years, specifically in the management of large scale sequencing projects ranging from the human genome project, through to the recent production of the reference sequence of the wheat genome with the IWGSC.

Jane has been part of the IWGSC since its beginning, as Coordinating Committee member since 2008 and then as staff member since 2013. Over the last year, she was a co-leader of the IWGSC RefSeq project.

Read her interview here .

16 August 2018 - The Wheat Code is Finally Craked

The IWGSC published today in the international journal Science the reference sequence of bread wheat, the world’s most widely cultivated crop.

More

In January 2018, at the Plant and Animal Genome Conference in San Diego (United States), the IWGSC presented an Outstanding Leadership Award to Catherine Feuillet in recognition for her unwavering leadership, support, and dedication to the IWGSC over the last 13 years.

Hélène Rimbert , Manuel Spannagl and David Swarbreck received IWGSC Leadership Awards for their leaderships in the annotation of the IWGSC reference sequence of bread wheat. Cristobal Uauy, Philippa Borrill and Ricardo Ramirez-Gonzalez received IWGSC Leadership Awards for their leaderships in the functional annotation and analysis of the IWGSC reference sequence.

4 July 2018 - All IWGSC reference sequence resources now publicly available at URGI

All data related to the reference sequence of bread wheat, IWGSC RefSeq v1.0, are now available without restriction.

Read more