A major international study in a UK scientific laboratory is revealing the history of wheat and looking at ways to improve its potential. The project is an international collaboration, with Chinese researchers also participating in key research.
Wheat is a staple crop for the global population, providing around one fifth of the calories consumed globally. But modern wheat has lost much genetic diversity, compared to the original wild grass it derived from eight millennia years ago.
Read more: https://tinyurl.com/yeszyw9h
Wheat is a staple crop for the global population, providing around one fifth of the calories consumed globally. But modern wheat has lost much genetic diversity, compared to the original wild grass it derived from eight millennia years ago.
Read more: https://tinyurl.com/yeszyw9h
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00:00These plants contain hidden secrets about wheat.
00:06Grown in controlled conditions here at the John Innes Research Centre,
00:10wild grass is helping an international group of scientists develop a different type of wheat.
00:16So here we've got lots of different varieties of this wild grass species.
00:20I'm really interested in the starch in these grains,
00:22trying to find novel diversity in this wild grass, which we don't see in modern wheat.
00:28We're interested in trying to transfer this into modern wheat
00:31to create starch which is more nutritious or useful for different industries, such as bread making.
00:36Scientists extracted DNA from these leaves and were excited to discover their potential.
00:42So it might seem very different to wheat, but it's actually almost like a grandparent of wheat,
00:47so it was really important in the evolution of modern wheat,
00:50which we're growing and eating in our daily lives.
00:53The grasses contain a larger type of starch, which could have health benefits.
00:58And this could potentially be really helpful nutritionally for our guts,
01:01because it might digest slightly slower and release less glucose into the bloodstream.
01:05So it could be really good for diseases such as diabetes.
01:09Extensive studies by the group revealed today's wheat is essentially a hybrid of three types of wild grasses.
01:16Originating in the Middle East, it's only existed for around 8,000 years.
01:22But in that time, it's become a huge part of our diets.
01:26It's thought around a fifth of the calories we consume globally come from wheat.
01:31But that modern crop has lost much of its diversity over the generations,
01:35which is why researchers here want to put that diversity back in to a more nutritious and climate-resistant crop.
01:43Scientists leading the research say adapting wheat production to climate change is key to future food security.
01:50The important aspect here is we need to grow more wheat in the future.
01:54The estimates are that by 2050, we need to produce up to 30 to 50 percent more wheat than what we produce today to meet global demands.
02:02Chinese scientists are also making a vital contribution to this international project.
02:07We have a much better view of the genetics,
02:11and we also have a better understanding of what the people in the other parts of the world are using for improving their varieties.
02:21Back at the John Innes Research Centre, a giant gene bank.
02:25This library of seeds from around the globe, carefully sorted and cooled.
02:30These drawers holding 30,000 wheat samples.
02:34We enable this research because the essence of the study is understanding genomic diversity, and we hold the diversity.
02:42So in order to unlock the diversity, you first need to define it, to conserve it.
02:47And so the genetic diversity discovered in these seeds could one day become part of the wheat we grow and the bread we eat,
02:56creating a more sustainable crop.
02:59Kitty Logan, CTTN, Norwich.