Question

Hexaploid Wheat developed through
a. Monoclonal Antibodies
b. Chromosomal Doubling
c. Somatic Hybridisation
d. Hybridisation and doubling of chromosomes

Answer 1

Hint: Since its creation, synthetic hexaploid wheat (SHW) has been made known to be an effective genetic source for transferring agronomically vital genes from wild relatives to common wheat. It provides new sources for yield potential, drought forbearance, disease resistance, and nutrient-use effectiveness when bred conventionally with modern wheat varieties.

Complete answer:
Bread wheat is an allohexaploid (an allopolyploid with six pairs of chromosomes, two sets from three different species). From the six sets of chromosomes, the first two come from Triticum Urartu (einkorn wheat) and two from Aegilops speltoides. This hybridization produced the species Triticum turgidum, around 580-820 thousand years ago.

The last two sets of chromosomes came from Aegilops tauschii, around 230-430 thousand years ago. Thus, hexaploid wheat is developed through hybridization and doubling of chromosomes.

Hence, The correct answer is option (D).

Additional information:
SHW is becoming more and more imperative for present wheat breeding. Here, we review the existing status of SHW generation, study, and application, with a particular focus on its contribution to wheat breeding.

Note: Common wheat provides a good model to characterize structural, functional, and epigenetic changes in an allopolyploid genome. Studying the unique features of wheat allohexaploid and comparing them with those in other allopolyploid plants will reveal new insights into the molecular mechanisms for wheat’s success.
To carry on feeding the world’s rising population, it will be essential in the next 50-60 years to produce more wheat than the entire amount of wheat that was grown over the past 10 000 years.