Wheat Genetics and Genomics workshop at PAG Australia 2023

Transformational advances in wheat genomics have occurred rapidly over the past five years. Most notably, the release of the fully annotated reference genome of bread wheat, for the cultivar Chinese Spring (IWGSC, 2018), and the establishment of many global initiatives collaboratively building upon the wheat pan-genome (Walkowiak et al. 2020). With innovations in sequencing technology, these critical genomic resources are swiftly advancing, and are coupled with synonymous progress in statistical genetics to rapidly extract value for breeding. Through cross-disciplinary collaboration, we now see routine genomic breeding approaches, like genomic prediction, combined with biophysical modeling and artificial intelligence to efficiently mine this big data. The harmonious coming together of these rich genomic resources and the advanced modelling approaches, used to extrapolate tangible outcomes, is the opportunity for a significant step-change in realized genetic gain for wheat breeding. In this workshop, genomic and genetic specialists will give critical insight into new technologies and tackle some of the largest areas of importance in wheat genetic improvement for our future climate, namely abiotic and biotic stress adaptation. Of similar importance, the inclusion of novel diversity is core to genetic improvement. Although paramount in the current landscape of genomic breeding, incorporating diverse genetics into an established program is no small feat, and within this workshop experts will detail cutting edge approaches that mitigate previous challenges. Finally, the workshop will explore the commercial perspective, providing case studies of the application of genomic resources and genetic technologies in an Australian commercial wheat breeding program.