International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium

Welcome

The International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium (IWGSC) is an international, collaborative consortium, established in 2005 by a group of wheat growers, plant scientists, and public and private breeders. The vision of the IWGSC is a high quality genome sequence of bread wheat that serves as a foundation for the accelerated development of improved varieties and that empowers all aspects of basic and applied wheat science.

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Article

28 November 2023

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The IWGSC Announces New Appointments to Board of Directors

The IWGSC is pleased to announce the appointment of Susanne Dreisigacker and Rajeev Varshney as new Board members of the organization.
The first comprehensive book about the most complex plant genome – the Wheat Genome – is now out and available in open access.
The wheat reference genome sequence (IWGSC RefSeq v1.0 & v2.1) has provided a foundation that has propelled recent advances in research and improvement of wheat. For the Structural and Functional Genomics Workshop, continued advances in research and understanding will require new experimental and computational approaches to structurally identify and assign function to genes (both coding and non-coding) as well as regulatory elements and epigenetic states. Accordingly, abstracts submitted for this workshop should focus on genome-scale studies that improve understanding of wheat genome function through the development of additional data resources, computational and experimental studies, exploration of gene families and pathways, and platforms that facilitate annotation and visualization.
The IWGSC has led the effort to develop a high quality, reference sequence of the large, complex (hexaploid), bread wheat genome: IWGSC RefSeq v1.0 and annotation v1.1 as well as the recently released IWGSC RefSeq v2.1 and accompanying annotation. The release of the IWGSC reference sequence of Chinese spring in 2017 has led to significant advances in wheat genomics. This year's workshop will include presentations related to long-read sequencing, epigenomics, genebank genetic profiling, photoperiodic response, and the Einkorn genome toolbox. As usual, the workshop also includes the presentation of the Catherine Feuillet & IWGSC Early Career Award and travel stipend to Daniela Miller who will speak about using high-fidelity long-read sequencing to identify structural variants in soft winter wheat. This award is given to a young scientist nominated by anyone in the wheat community and selected by the IWGSC leadership in recognition of outstanding achievement.

The IWGSC at PAG31

01 December 2023
IWGSC Workshop at PAG 2024
The IWGSC has led the effort to develop a high quality, reference sequence of the large, complex (hexaploid), bread wheat genome: IWGSC RefSeq v1.0 and...
06 December 2023
IWGSC - From Structural to Functional Wheat Genomics Workshop at PAG 2024
The wheat reference genome sequence (IWGSC RefSeq v1.0 & v2.1) has provided a foundation that has propelled recent advances in research and improvement...
28 November 2023
IWGSC business meeting at PAG 2024
The IWGSC will hold a business meeting on Saturday 13 January from 6:20 to 7:30pm in Palm 7.
28 November 2023
PAG 2024 Speaker Profiles
The following scientist will present their research at the IWGSC Workshops at PAG31
07 November 2023
Carolyn Mukiri
Carolyn Mukiri was awarded the IWGSC and Catherine Feuillet Early Career Award and will receive her award at the Plant & Animal Genome Conference (PAG)...

Webinars

Article

07 December 2023

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Webinar: Insight Into Wheat Spike and Grain Development by Learning From Natural Variation And Chemically-Induced Mutants

On 7 December 2023, the IWGSC organized a webinar entitled "Insight Into Wheat Spike and Grain Development by Learning From Natural Variation And Chemically-Induced Mutants" presented by Andy Chen, John Innes Centre, UK
Article

06 October 2023

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Webinar: Wheat genomics facilitates the discovery of kinase fusion proteins as major players in rust resistance

On 5 October 2023, the IWGSC organized a webinar entitled "Wheat genomics facilitates the discovery of kinase fusion proteins as major players in rust resistance" presented by Guotai Yu and Yajun Wang (KAUST, Saudi Arabia)
Article

30 August 2023

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Webinar: The Aegilops tauschii pangenome: A tool for harnessing wild wheat genetic diversity

On 13 July 2023, the IWGSC organized a webinar entitled "The Aegilops tauschii pangenome: A tool for harnessing wild wheat genetic diversity" presented by Andrea Gonzalez (KAUST, Saudi Arabia)

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Article

16 August 2023

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INRAE

INRAE, the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment, has been supporting the IWGSC since its inception. In particular, teams from INRAE’s Plant Biology and Breeding (PBB) division have played an active role in all IWGSC projects over the past decades. The IWGSC is extremely grateful for INRAE continuous support and for the leadership and expertise of members of the PBB division.
Article

07 November 2023

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Carolyn Mukiri

Carolyn Mukiri was awarded the IWGSC and Catherine Feuillet Early Career Award and will receive her award at the Plant & Animal Genome Conference (PAG) in San Diego, California (USA) in January 2024. Carolyn also received a travel stipend to allowed her to travel to the PAG conference to present a talk during the IWGSC main workshop on Saturday 13 January 2024.
Article

16 August 2023

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The Bread Wheat Genome Sequence - A Tool for Breeders to Improve Wheat and Contribute to Food Security

Why is it important to have a high quality sequence of bread wheat?
Article

07 November 2023

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Kellye Eversole

Kellye Eversole has been at the helm of the IWGSC since its inception in 2005 and has been instrumental in all developments and successes of the consortium, relentlessly advocating and pursuing the vison and ultimate goal of the consortium to develop genomic tools to advance wheat research and breeding.

Milestone Publications

Article

20 November 2023

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The Wheat Genome book is out

The first comprehensive book about the most complex plant genome – the Wheat Genome – is now out and available in open access.
Article

16 August 2023

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Reference Sequence of Bread Wheat

In August 2018, the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium (IWGSC) published the first fully annotated reference genome of bread wheat in the journal Science. 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.
Article

16 August 2023

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Reference Sequence of Chromosome 3B

The first reference sequence for the largest wheat chromosome, 3B, was published in Science in July 2014 - in the same special issue were the draft sequence was published. This major achievement established a proof of concept and a template for sequencing the remaining chromosomes.
Article

16 August 2023

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Physical Map of Chromosome 3B

The physical map of the wheat largest chromosome, 3B, was published in Science in October 2008, paving the way to sequence the 17–billion–base-pair hexaploid bread wheat genome.
Article

16 August 2023

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Chromosome-specific BAC libraries

Reference article on wheat chromosome sorting for BAC library construction.