The seemingly ordinary wheat, but this time made a big move, and boarded the attention list of the global scientific community. More than 200 countries, more than 70 institutions, and more than 200 scientists, led by the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium (IWGSC), took 13 years to finally complete this amazing "secret code"-this It is the genome map of the world's first full version of hexaploid wheat "Chinese Spring". This research was evaluated by Rudy Epers, a wheat breeding expert at the University of Melbourne in Australia as "conquered the genetics 'Mount Everest'", and was listed online by Science, one of the world's most authoritative academic journals, on August 17 release. What exactly is a "codebook" of wheat genes? Why can it be so concerned? What can it be used for? The team of Professor Song Weining from the State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Regions of Northwest A & F University is the only Chinese team involved in the deciphering of this genome map. "The significance of this research is similar to the cracking of the human genetic code: with the wheat genome map, wheat breeding and genetic research can advance a big step forward." Song Weining told China Youth Daily · China Youth Online reporter: Wheat does not fall, does not tolerate drought, whether the seeds are large or small, and the nutritional value is high, "all related to it." Wheat is one of the most widely grown grains in the world. People use it to process bread, buns, noodles, beer, etc., and feed 40% of the world's population. Especially in China, the world's largest wheat production and consumption country, the annual planting area of ​​wheat is about 24 million hectares, and the output is nearly 130 million tons. However, many people do not know that wheat, which is so inseparable from humans, has an extremely special identity: it is the only species that has not yet completed the whole genome sequencing. The reason is a bit unexpected: the wheat seems to be ordinary, but its genome is very large-5 times that of the human genome and 40 times that of the rice genome. At the same time, as a typical allopolyploid, the repetitive sequence in the wheat genome is extremely high-containing 3 sets of very similar chromosomes, "it is very difficult to decipher." Because of this, "Wheat Genome Sequencing" was once dubbed by the media as a "nightmare challenge." Even IWGSC Executive Director Kelly Eversol said in a public statement that mapping the wheat genome was once considered an "impossible task." For researchers, the lack of a genomic map is like a “grass†between two mountain peaks, making it difficult for wheat breeders to track the “generational sequence transfer†of wheat genes. And for genetic engineers trying to change their specific DNA sequences, it is "tigers eat the sky, nowhere to paw." In 2005, IWGSC challenged this challenge. In 2006, Professor Song Weining joined the research "fleet". Why did such an international study select the "Chinese Spring" variety? Song Weining introduced that "Chinese Spring" is a local variety planted in the Chengdu Plain of Sichuan Province. As early as the early 20th century, it was introduced to the West through missionaries. In the 1940s and 1950s, Sears, a famous American scholar, derived a series of wheat chromosome materials from "Chinese Spring" through research. "This makes 'China Spring' the most important genetic material and tool for wheat genetics, and promotes the great development of wheat cytogenetics." It is for this reason that wheat has become a model crop of that era, while also directly promoting rye, Genetic studies of barley, oats and other species. With the efforts of scientists from various countries, one after another exciting results came to pass. Facts have proven time and time again: "Everest" is not unattainable. In fact, with the continuous efforts of scientists in the field of wheat sequencing research, exciting results have also come out one after another: in 2008, the research team of the French Academy of Agricultural Sciences released the largest one of the wheat chromosomes-the physics of 3B chromosome Atlas; In 2013, the Institute of Genetic Development of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Crop Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences completed the drafts of the wheat ancestors A and D genomes respectively; The research team at Weiss University obtained the reference sequence of wheat ancestor D gene ... For the world's first hexaploid wheat genome map, due to the large genome size and high content of repeated sequences, "have to adopt a 'divide and conquer' strategy." Song Weining said, "The technical route adopted by the institute is to" isolate chromosomes " —Build a BAC (bacterial artificial chromosome) library—build a physical map—sequencing '. " First of all, according to the size and length, all chromosomes are uniformly separated. The 21 chromosomes of "Chinese Spring" are divided into three groups, named group A, group B and group D. Each group contains 7 chromosomes, which are coded as 1A, 2A, 3A, etc. according to the numbers. Each chromosome can also be split into long and short arms. The initial separation of chromosomes and the construction of a bacterial artificial chromosome library were the responsibility of the Czech research team. Afterwards, led by the IWGSC Coordination Committee, the members of each country "claimed one by one" in accordance with their own conditions, and then completed the subsequent physical map construction and bacterial artificial chromosome sequencing (BAC sequencing). In the end, researchers from more than 20 countries completed the construction of the physical map separately. In this vast project, the researchers integrated 21 wheat chromosome reference sequences to obtain 107,000 genes, more than 4 million molecular markers, and sequence information that affects gene expression. Song Weining team is responsible for deciphering the wheat chromosome "7D middle long arm". At present, it can be determined that "many intervals of this chromosome are closely related to traits such as wheat yield, seed size, and resistance to rust." "Wheat '7D Middle Long Arm' is a new exploration, and there is no experience to follow." Song Weining said that the size of the "7D Middle Long Arm" chromosome is equal to the entire rice genome size. Not only that, the workload of physical map construction and sequence assembly, analysis and deciphering far exceeded the corresponding rice genome. "The number of teachers and students participating in this study can be filled with a whole car." Song Weining made an image analogy. With the scientific research support provided by the Northwest A & F University for the team, the team members basically have no concepts of holidays, winter and summer vacations, and are fully committed to the sequencing and decoding of massive data. The drawing of the "Chinese Spring" genome map was completed. "It can be said that we have obtained a 'codebook' for studying wheat." Song Weining said that it has made a qualitative leap in scientists' understanding of wheat growth and development rules, and it will be better for humanity in the future. Use wheat to make important bedding. "With this 'reference book', experiments that could not be done in the past can now be done. What has been studied before can continue to be more transparent." So far, for this genome, members of the alliance He and other researchers have published more than 100 papers. At the same time, new discoveries have begun to work. For example, the Belgian plant geneticist Anger Rod reported that his research team identified a key gene that delays wheat germination, and they hope to use technology to invalidate the gene, thereby shortening the breeding cycle; University of California, Davis Professor George Dubzovsky recently discovered a new wheat high gene ... "In the future, we will continue to carry out sequence analysis work, combining the evolution of wheat genome, sequence and molecular breeding, genetic breeding, and cultivating high-yield, drought-resistant, salt-resistant, pest-resistant new wheat varieties to better cope with the global climate The challenges of food shortages brought about by changes and population growth have laid the foundation for wheat genome improvement. "Song Weining said. Pressure bucket， pressure box，pressure tank Jiangmen Gude Polishing Equipment Co., Ltd , https://www.kokipolishing.com