Wheat historical phenotypic data from European genebanks as an important resource for research and breeding
Plant genetic resources are considered a treasure trove of valuable, untapped diversity that holds the key to breeding the crops of the future. However, the use of these resources in breeding is often limited due to the lack of comprehensive phenotypic characterization. The present study provides extensive historical phenotypic data from nine genebanks as a MIAPPE compliant data set. We compiled and curated phenotypic data from 43,293 wheat accessions, encompassing 460,399 data points across 52 traits, including the three core traits of plant height, heading time, and thousand kernel weight from seven decades. The exceptional quality of the presented dataset was highlighted by predominantly high heritabilities. Phenotypic data of such quantity and quality is a crucial resource for unlocking the valuable diversity of plant genetic resources for agricultural advancement.
Authors
- Zakaria Kehel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1625-043X)
- L Vasilescu
- Filippo M. Bassi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1164-5598)
- René Hauptvogel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7587-7200)
- Wiesław Podyma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2018-281X)
- R. de Blok
- Gergana Desheva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5146-1972)
- Bozhidar Kyosev
- Meryem Zaïm (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6314-4082)
- Cătălin LAZĂR
- Szymon Puła (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5684-5358)
- Maja Boczkowska (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8691-410X)
- Magdalena Ruiz
- T.G. Wijnker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9872-954X)
- John K. Ruff
- Boulos Chalhoub (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9268-5486)
- Wouter Groenink (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-2638-8140)
- Aleksandra Pietrusińska (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6089-7030)
- Matthijs Brouwer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8183-0484)
- Indira Galit
- Raphaël Flores
- Marcel O. Berkner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2262-5098)
- Paulina Bolc (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7006-7372)
- Patrizia Vaccino (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8503-3263)
- Adrian Motor (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-7324-1676)
- Roel Hoekstra
- Beate Schierscher
- Sarah Serex
- N. Bas
- Robbert van Treuren
- Matthias Lange
- Suman Kumar
- Renata Kowalik
- Erwan Le Floch
- Paul Kersey
- Jagadeeshwar R. Etukala
- Marta Puchta-Jasińska
- Anne-Françoise Adam-Blondon
- Mercedes Pallero-Baena
- Andrea Visioni
- Mandea Vasile
- Gabriela Șerban
- Francesca Sansoni
- Jochen C. Reif
- Cristina Marinciu
- Mounika Pachipala
- Stephan Weise
- Cyril Pommier
- Laura Reiniers
- Eugen Petcu
- Diana Martín-Lammerding
- Etienne Bardet
Institutions
- Universidad de Alcalá (ES)
- Université Paris-Saclay (FR)
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (GB)
- Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (FR)
- Cereal Research Centre (IT)
- Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (ES)
- Development Fund (NO)
- Institut Supérieur du Génie Appliqué (MA)
- Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung (IPK) (DE)
- Institute of Plant Physiology and Genetics (BG)
- Agroscope (CH)
- National Agricultural and Food Centre (SK)
- Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute - National Research Institute (PL)
- Wageningen University & Research (NL)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Scientific Data
- Published
- 2026-03-02
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-026-06908-x
- Primary Topic
- Wheat and Barley Genetics and Pathology
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- European Commission