Understanding and Utilizing Genetic Diversity in Wheat Breeding.

We are utilizing next-generation sequencing platforms to genotyping large collections of wheat breeding germplasm including wild wheat relatives.  This genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) approach is well suited for exploring diversity in new sets of germplasm and new species.  We are able to examine genetic diversity in wheat breeding programs and outline breeding strategies to accelerate breeding progress while maintaining genetic diversity.  At the same time, sources of exotic alleles can be explored and characterized for introgression into elite breeding pools.  The combination of targeted capture of increased genetic diversity with genomics-assisted breeding holds promise for rapid introgression of novel alleles for breeding.