Genomic Insights into Winter Wheat Breeding for Severely Cold Climates.

ABSTRACT: Wheat is one of the world's most important crops, cultivated across diverse ecogeographic zones on more than ~245 million hectares annually. Classified by vernalization requirement into spring, facultative, or winter types, the latter typically achieves higher yields due to its extended growing season, reaching ~18 t ha^-1 and 9-10 t ha^-1 as a national average for Western European countries such as Germany, France, and England, compared with the global average of barely above 3 t ha^-1. Despite this potential, winter wheat is largely confined to regions with relatively mild winters, while vast temperate zones with extremely cold winters rely on spring wheat. Breeding has traditionally targeted the vernalization-C-repeat Binding Factor (VRN-CBF)

SUBMITTER: Sertse D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12898387 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature