Summary
This narrative review examines the physiological and metabolic changes that have occurred in wheat during domestication and modern breeding, and argues that retrospective study of wild relatives, landraces, and old cultivars may reveal previously overlooked traits relevant to future food security. The authors propose that mining natural genetic variation in wheat ancestors offers a tractable approach to enhance productivity, resilience to environmental stress, and adaptation to local agro-environments in the context of climate change and stagnating yield gains. The review encompasses changes in plant architecture, photosynthetic function, and stress physiology as targets for crop improvement.
UK applicability
Given the UK's temperate climate and reliance on cereal production, insights into stress resilience and local adaptation of wheat germplasm are relevant to British breeding programmes and farming systems. However, the review's focus on genetic diversity and domestication history is international in scope and does not address UK-specific agronomic or regulatory contexts.
Key measures
Wheat spike architecture; canopy- and organ-level photosynthetic capacity; abiotic stress responses; agronomic performance; grain quality and stability
Outcomes reported
The review synthesises changes in wheat architecture, physiology, and metabolism occurring during domestication and breeding, and evaluates whether genetic diversity from wheat ancestors can enhance modern cultivar performance under abiotic stress. It considers traits in spike architecture, photosynthetic capacity, and stress responses that may have been underestimated or lost during breeding.
Topic tags
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