AUTHOR=Strejčková Beáta , Mazzucotelli Elisabetta , Čegan Radim , Milec Zbyněk , Brus Jan , Çakır Esra , Mastrangelo Anna Maria , Özkan Hakan , Šafář Jan 

TITLE=Wild emmer wheat, the progenitor of modern bread wheat, exhibits great diversity in the VERNALIZATION1 gene

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.1106164

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2022.1106164

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Wild emmer wheat is an excellent reservoir of genetic variability that can be utilized to improve cultivated wheat to address the challenges of the expanding world population and climate change. Bearing this in mind, we have collected a panel of 263 wild emmer wheat (WEW) genotypes across the Fertile Crescent. The genotypes were grown in different locations and phenotyped for heading date. Genome-wide association mapping (GWAS) was carried out, and 16 SNPs were associated with the heading date. As the flowering time is controlled by photoperiod and vernalization, we sequenced the <italic>VRN1</italic> gene, the most important of the vernalization response genes, to discover new alleles. Unlike most earlier attempts, which characterized known <italic>VRN1</italic> alleles according to a partial promoter or intron sequences, we obtained full-length sequences of <italic>VRN-A1</italic> and <italic>VRN-B1</italic> genes in a panel of 95 wild emmer wheat from the Fertile Crescent and uncovered a significant sequence variation. Phylogenetic analysis of <italic>VRN-A1</italic> and <italic>VRN-B1</italic> haplotypes revealed their evolutionary relationships and geographic distribution in the Fertile Crescent region. The newly described alleles represent an attractive resource for durum and bread wheat improvement programs.</p>