An international team of scientists has begun to map the intricate genome sequence that makes up wheat, publishing their findings in today's Science.  

Bread wheat, a crop that fueled the rise of civilization, has a genome sequence with around 100,000 genes, which compares with just 20,000 for the human genome, according to National Geographic.

"It was simply size and complexity that was putting up a roadblock for a fairly long time," said study author Klaus Mayer, director of genome analytics with the Plant Genome and Systems Biology Group at the Helmholtz Center Munich.

Wheat is a diet staple for about a third of the world's population, but efforts to improve it have been held back due to its complicated genome, The Washington Post reported.

Despite its complexity, wheat farmers and engineers have long adapted their wheat crops for desired traits.

"Bread wheat already exhibits a lot of adaptation," said Jane Rogers, who worked on the Human Genome Project and serves as a co-director of IWGSC, as quoted by the Post. "It's one of the most well-adapted plants on the planet. It grows in the greatest variety of soil types and climates and has the ability to respond to different pests and diseases."

The hope is that understanding the genome will improve breeding for the vital crop, which produces more than 700 million tons of food per year, according to a Kansas State University news release.

"Knowing what genes are on which chromosomes will allow us to accelerate breeding by putting the right genes into the right wheat populations," said Kellye Eversole, executive director of the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium, which led the research, as quoted by the Post. "In the long-term, this means more rapid progress for wheat."

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