Exotic Wheat DNA Helps Breed 'Climate-proof' Crops
Published:14 Feb.2023 Source:Earlham Institute
In collaboration with CIMMYT, Earlham Institute researchers set up a two-year field trial in Mexico's Sonora desert. They studied 149 wheat lines, ranging from widely-used elite lines to those selectively bred to include DNA from wild relatives and landraces from Mexico and India.
They found the plants bred with exotic DNA achieved a 50 per cent higher yield over wheat without this DNA. Importantly, the exotic lines didn't perform any worse than the elite lines under normal conditions.
The researchers sequenced the plants to locate specific genetic differences responsible for the increased heat tolerance. They identified genetic markers that could allow the targeted introduction of this beneficial exotic DNA into elite lines, offering a quick way to improve climate resilience and mitigate against widespread crop failures.