Dissection of genomic drivers of spike morphology changes in wheat by high-throughput phenotyping
Spike morphology is crucial for wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) yield and environmental adaptation. We developed a high-throughput phenotyping platform to dissect spike morphology traits based on 54 traits in 1,359 wheat accessions. These 54 spike morphology traits exhibited clear geographical differences among 306 worldwide accessions and breeding selection trend across different time windows for 1,053 accessions released from 1900 to 2020 in China. Based on geographical distribution and breeding selection of haplotypes, we attribute the differences in spike morphology to variable haplotype combinations. Wheat breeding breaks the trade-off between spike length and width/thickness, resulting in increased spike volume. A large proportion of genomic regions has been identified across wheat varieties and utilized as a fixed group to facilitate the targeted improvement and selection of desirable traits during wheat breeding programs. Overall, we provide a resource for the molecular design of spike morphology to facilitate future wheat breeding.
Authors
- Yuanfeng Hao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0162-9375)
- Jianhui Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8154-1199)
- Rui Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2519-4548)
- He Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7829-8033)
- Botao Ye (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1676-0111)
- Lipeng Kang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0055-9149)
- Chenyang Hao
- Fei Lü (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3596-1712)
- Yanchun Peng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2340-0499)
- Yi-Ming Zang
- Peng Shen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5689-1098)
- Jiaxin Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7228-2877)
- Junming Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9008-4767)
- Zhonghu He (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1384-3712)
- Song Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6797-4331)
- Xiaowan Xu
- Tingting Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-4601-1599)
- Xueyong Zhang
- Zifeng Guo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4261-4492)
- Changbin Yin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0950-8391)
- Dejun Han
- Kuocheng Shen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7021-7489)
- Xuchang Yu
- Jing Dong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3684-2432)
- Ziying Wang
- Zhiliang Zhang
Institutions
- Beijing Botanical Garden (CN)
- Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CN)
- North West Agriculture and Forestry University (CN)
- Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology (CN)
- Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CN)
- Ministry of Agriculture (CZ)
- Hubei Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CN)
- Institute of Crop Sciences (CN)
- Ministry of Agriculture (TN)
- Northwest A&F University (CN)
- Hebei Normal University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Cell Reports
- Published
- 2025-08-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2025.116120
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Wheat and Barley Genetics and Pathology
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 7.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- National Key Research and Development Program of China