Researchers from The James Hutton Institute’s International Barley Hub (IBH), working within an international consortium led by the research units of the Clermont-Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Centre (INRAE-UCA), have uncovered genomic evidence of convergent selection — a process in which unrelated or distantly related crop species independently develop similar genetic adaptations in response to the same environmental pressures.
Barley and wheat, although only distantly related, were among the founder crops of the agricultural revolution that began more than 10,000 years ago in the Near East’s Fertile Crescent. As agriculture expanded worldwide, these crops were cultivated in new regions with distinct ecological challenges, requiring them to adapt to a wide range of environments, according to a press release.
IBH — supported through a £62 million investment via the Tay Cities Region Deal (TRCD), a partnership involving local, Scottish and UK governments alongside private, academic and voluntary sectors — drives scientific discovery and innovation to strengthen barley’s resilience. With climate change intensifying environmental pressures and demand for barley continuing to rise, advances in genetics and breeding are critical to safeguarding yields and securing the long-term sustainability of the UK’s most valuable crop.
To investigate whether barley and wheat adapted through similar genetic routes, the researchers conducted a comparative, genome-wide analysis of more than 1,300 domesticated barley, emmer, durum and bread wheat lines. They searched for fully or partially conserved molecular variants in equivalent genes across species, aiming to determine whether shared environmental pressures produced comparable genetic outcomes.
Their analysis revealed that different species frequently adapted through similar genetic changes. The team identified shared variants in genes linked to plant development, inflorescence structure, starch grain size, tillering, root architecture, drought avoidance, and key domestication traits.
“These discoveries are important because they provide access to trait-associated gene sequence variants identified in one species that can be used as a guide to the creation or selection of the parallel variants in other species where the trait holds potential breeding value,” Professor Robbie Waugh, leader of the IBH contribution said.
“Combining these discoveries with modern precision breeding or targeted, chemical, mutagenesis (the production of genetic mutations) has the potential to impact and enhance modern plant breeding as it strives to address challenges in current and future crop production.”
The research lays the foundation for the concept of inter-crop translational breeding and provides a route to identify genes that are crucial for adaptation, along with sources of diversity for use in improving cultivated species.
The study has been published in Nature Plants.
