Omics consortium established to supercharge climate-adapted wheat breeding
Adelaide University
Adelaide University is leading the international Wheat Spatial Omics Consortium (WSOC) of more than 30 institutions in nine countries, which will explore how collaborative research in spatial omics technologies could improve wheat performance for growers.
Spatial omics is a suite of molecular technologies that measure and map the distribution of genes, proteins, and metabolites while preserving their native spatial context and cellular organisation, which conventional omics cannot achieve.
“Spatial transcriptomics allows us to measure the abundance of genes in specific cell types and time-points that are responsible for yield, pest and disease resistance, and abiotic stress tolerance of crops,” said Professor Zhong-Hua Chen, from Adelaide University’s School of Agriculture, Food and Wine and Waite Research Institute.
“Although widely applied in medical and animal sciences, the use of spatial omics in crops with large complex genomes, such as allohexaploid wheat, remains limited.
“Among our consortium members, we have the technological power to tackle this complexity across multiple tissues and stages of development.”
Professor Chen and the WSOC collaborators published a paper in Nature Genetics detailing the potential for the application of spatial omics in wheat.
“Our ambition is to build a comprehensive spatial omics atlas to benefit the whole wheat community. By mapping wheat biology at subcellular resolution across the full life cycle, the WSOC seeks to decode the integrated mechanisms of wheat development, stress response, and grain quality.” he said.
“We are producing this atlas in parallel with a set of research questions led by different groups that will allow us to tackle important issues in wheat breeding such as leaf rust resistance, root drought tolerance, and high grain quality for bread-making.
“This is an enormous task, but wheat is a globally critical crop, so improving grain yield and quality has real-world impacts for people experiencing food insecurity and malnutrition.”
Australian wheat exports are valued at more than AUD$9 billion annually, and exports from the 10 leading wheat-exporting countries is valued at more than USD$60 billion.
Professor Matthew Tucker, Director of the Waite Research Institute, said that spatial omics is a game-changing technology that revolutionises the way research is carried out.
“Technological advances of this nature don’t come along very often. We are very excited to be leading this consortium and building on the legacy of wheat research at Adelaide University,” he said.
“The omics atlas will provide opportunities to narrow down the basis for important heat-sensitive traits, such as flower fertility or grain quality, and understand which cell types are responsible for tolerance.”
Professor Jason Able, Dean of School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, said research outputs generated from this technology will contribute to the way wheat breeders consider building their next step-change variety.
“This research will enable global wheat breeders to unlock the interplay and complexity of plant neural networks and how genes respond to various biotic, abiotic, environmental and climatic factors,” he said
“Ultimately, tapping into this knowledge will create the wheat varieties of tomorrow and value-add significantly across the industry, thereby contributing to the profitability of this commodity.”
Ultra-low asparagine wheat developed using precision gene editing
Scientists have successfully developed wheat with dramatically reduced levels of asparagine, without affecting yield, offering promising route to safer food production
image:
Dr Navneet Kaur with bread, toast and biscuits made from the CRISPR edited wheat
view moreCredit: Rothamsted Research
Scientists at Rothamsted Research have successfully developed wheat with dramatically reduced levels of asparagine, without affecting yield, using gene editing techniques, offering a promising route to safer food production and improved regulatory compliance.
Results from two years of field trials demonstrate that wheat produced using CRISPR genome editing can significantly lower concentrations of free asparagine—an amino acid that converts into acrylamide, a toxic and probably carcinogenic compound formed during everyday baking, frying, and toasting.
The study, conducted in collaboration with partners including Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology, Technical University of Munich, University of Reading, and Curtis Analytics Limited, compared CRISPR-edited wheat lines with conventionally mutagenised (TILLING) lines (wheat that had its genetic material altered through exposure to a chemical agent to create random mutations).
CRISPR editing targeted the asparagine synthetase-2 (TaASN2) gene, responsible for asparagine production. One edited line also included a partial knockout of the related TaASN1 gene. These targeted edits reduced free asparagine in the grain by 59%, and by up to 93% in the dual-edited line, without any reduction in yield.
By contrast, wheat developed using traditional TILLING methods achieved a 50% reduction in free asparagine but suffered a yield penalty of nearly 25%, likely due to unintended mutations elsewhere in the genome. The results highlight the precision and efficiency of gene editing compared with conventional approaches.
Lead researcher Dr Navneet Kaur, from Rothamsted Research, said:
“This work demonstrates the power of CRISPR technology to deliver precise, beneficial changes in crop genetics. With supportive regulatory frameworks, we can unlock significant benefits for agriculture and food systems.”
Crucially, the reduction in asparagine translated directly into lower acrylamide formation in food products. Bread and biscuits made from the edited wheat showed substantially reduced acrylamide levels, with concentrations in some bread samples falling below detectable limits, even after toasting. In contrast, evidence to date suggests that conventional breeding would be unlikely to deliver a similar improvement.
These findings are particularly timely as regulatory pressure on acrylamide intensifies. Current EU legislation (Regulation (EU) 2017/2158) sets benchmark levels for acrylamide in food, with new Maximum Levels expected from the European Commission this year. These regulations will impact food producers across Europe and international trading partners, including the UK. The research also aligns with recent policy developments for genome edited crops in England, in the form of the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023.
Professor Nigel Halford from Rothamsted Research, who led the study, said:
“Low acrylamide wheat could enable food businesses to meet evolving safety standards without compromising product quality or incurring major production costs. It also offers a meaningful opportunity to reduce the dietary exposure of consumers to acrylamide.”
Low acrylamide wheat products
Field trial of the gene-edited wheat in July 2023
Credit
Rothamsted Research
Journal
Plant Biotechnology Journal
Subject of Research
Cells
Article Title
Field Trials and Baking Studies of Ultra-Low Asparagine, Genome Edited (CRISPR/Cas9) and Mutant (TILLING) Wheat
Article Publication Date
1-Apr-2026
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