Single base hits score a home run in wheat.
Finding a way to identify point mutants for a genome in which there are six copies of every gene seems a daunting task, however this has recently been reported. In this research, the redundancy in the wheat genome proved a help instead of a hindrance and the results suggest a promising approach in functional genomics of polyploid crop species. It is now feasible to generate point mutations in all the homologs for a particular gene directly in a polypoid commercial crop variety and then combine them, thus avoiding undesirable, linked traits that often complicate introgressing traits into crops from wild relatives.
Weil
Clifford
C
Department of Agronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-1150, USA. cweil@purdue.edu
D018745:Genome, Plant; D016296:Mutagenesis; D011003:Ploidies; D017354:Point Mutation; D014908:Triticum / Q000235:genetics*