New wheat diversity discovery could provide an urgently-needed solution to global food security

Newly-discovered diversity in the wheat genome could offer vital new opportunities to improve and ‘climate-proof’ one of the world’s most important staple crops.

Earlham Institute

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Wheat has a very large and complex genome. Researchers have found that different varieties can use their genes in different ways. By studying RNA—the molecules that carry out instructions from DNA—researchers can see which genes are active and when. By mapping this gene activity for the first time, researchers are able accelerate international wheat breeding programmes, developing new varieties of wheat which can adapt to the rapidly escalating climate emergency.

Wheat is the most widely cultivated crop in the world, with over 215 million hectares grown annually. To meet the demands of a growing global population, plant breeders face the challenge of increasing wheat production by an estimated 60 per cent within the next 40 years. 

The wheat pan-transcriptome offers a powerful tool to help meet this challenge. It will enable plant breeders to accelerate yield improvements and develop more resilient wheat varieties—better equipped to cope with rising temperatures, water shortages, and poor soil quality. Importantly, this can be done without increasing reliance on fertilisers, which are linked to biodiversity loss and pollution.

Senior Postdoctoral Researcher at the Earlham Institute and co-first author Dr Rachel Rusholme-Pilcher said: “We’ve revealed layers of hidden diversity spanning our modern wheat variations. This diversity is likely to underpin the success of wheat over such a wide range of global environments.

“We discovered how groups of genes work together as regulatory networks to control gene expression. Our research allowed us to look at how these network connections differ between wheat varieties revealing new sources of genetic diversity that could be critical in boosting the resilience of wheat.”

Furthermore, this work has created an important resource for the worldwide wheat research community - a clear example of how national and international collaboration and new technologies can lead to scientific breakthroughs in global food security. 

Much of the untapped genetic diversity may stem from how wheat has adapted to different environments over time, shaped by over 100 years of modern breeding and more than 10,000 years of cultivation.

Deputy Group Leader in the Plant Genome and Systems Biology Group at Helmholtz Munich Dr Manuel Spannagl, said: “The new expression atlas allowed us to independently predict and compare the gene content of the wheat cultivars. We used those gene predictions together with the pan-transcriptome data to identify pronounced variation in the prolamin superfamily and immune-reactive proteins across cultivars.” 

Transcript isoform sequencing and de novo annotation was carried out by the Technical Genomics and Core Bioinformatics Groups at the Earlham Institute through the BBSRC-funded National Bioscience Research Infrastructure in Transformative Genomics. 

Dr Karim Gharbi, Head of Technical Genomics at the Earlham Institute, said: “This work demonstrates the power of technology to reveal novel biology, in this case hidden functional diversity which had not been documented before. Wheat pangenomics resources are growing rapidly with more diversity yet to be discovered.” 

ENDS

Funding acknowledgement

The study was supported by the BBSRC-funded Decoding Biodiversity research programme and National Bioscience Research Infrastructure in Transformative Genomics at the Earlham Institute, as well as the BBSRC cross-institute Delivering Sustainable Wheat programme. 

Notes to editors

The paper ‘De Novo Annotation Reveals Transcriptomic Complexity Across the Hexaploid Wheat Pan-Genome’ is published in Nature Communications. 

The study was conducted as part of the International 10+ Wheat Genome Project, and involved a global collaboration of scientists from countries including Australia, Japan, France, Germany, Switzerland, the United States, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and Canada.

Please contact communications@earlham.ac.uk for further information or media enquiries.

 

About the Earlham Institute

The Earlham Institute is a hub of life science research, training, and innovation focused on understanding the natural world through the lens of genomics.

Embracing the full breadth of life on Earth, our scientists specialise in developing and testing the latest tools and approaches needed to decode living systems and make predictions about biology.

The Earlham Institute is based within the Norwich Research Park and is one of eight institutes that receive strategic funding from BBSRC, as well as support from other research funders.

LinkedIn: Earlham Institute / Bluesky: earlhaminst.bsky.social

About Helmholtz Munich

Helmholtz Munich is a leading biomedical research center. Its mission is to develop breakthrough solutions for better health in a rapidly changing world. Interdisciplinary research teams focus on environmentally triggered diseases, especially the therapy and prevention of diabetes, obesity, allergies, and chronic lung diseases. With the power of artificial intelligence and bioengineering, researchers accelerate the translation to patients. Helmholtz Munich has around 2,500 employees and is headquartered in Munich/Neuherberg. It is a member of the Helmholtz Association, with more than 43,000 employees and 18 research centers the largest scientific organization in Germany.

More about Helmholtz Munich (Helmholtz Zentrum München Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Gesundheit und Umwelt GmbH): www.helmholtz-munich.de/en 

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Journal

Nature Communications

TWO

10.1038/s41467-025-64046-1 

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

De Novo Annotation Reveals Transcriptomic Complexity Across the Hexaploid Wheat Pan-Genome

Article Publication Date

6-Oct-2025

Key wheat genes that control plant height and grain size identified

Findings could pave the way for breeding higher-yield crops to meet global food demands

Rothamsted Research

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Rothamsted scientists, together with partners at the University of Olomouc, Czechia, have uncovered how a family of genes in wheat fine-tunes the plant’s growth and grain development, a breakthrough that could help breeders produce bigger harvests.

The study focused on genes that regulate the production of gibberellins – natural plant hormones that drive growth. By examining seven versions of GA3OX genes in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum), the team found that different members of the gene family have distinct roles in shaping both plant stature and grain size.

Mutations in one set of genes, known as GA3OX2, left wheat plants severely stunted and infertile, due to extremely low gibberellin levels throughout the plant. By contrast, changes in GA3OX3 and GA1OX1 genes affected gibberellin levels mainly in developing grains. Whereas GA3OX3 mutants had lower gibberellin levels, leading to smaller and lighter grains, GA1OX1 mutants accumulated higher gibberellin levels, producing larger grains.

Intriguingly, the study also revealed that grain-related genes can influence plant height, suggesting that hormones move between tissues more widely than previously thought. Analysis of modern wheat varieties showed that breeders have already, perhaps unknowingly, selected natural versions of these genes linked with larger grain size.

The findings highlight new possibilities for crop improvement, say the researchers. By harnessing natural genetic variation in hormone pathways, plant breeders may be able to balance plant height with grain yield more precisely, a longstanding goal in agriculture.

“Our work shows how research into growth regulation pathways in wheat can guide the selection of gene variants that benefit farmers,” said Dr Stephen Pearce, a co-author of the study. “Decades of work on the gibberellin pathway led us to target these genes, which could now help develop wheat with bigger grains”.

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Journal

Journal of Experimental Botany

TWO

10.1093/jxb/eraf151 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

GIBBERELLIN 3-OXIDASE genes regulate height and grain size in bread wheat

 

Open communication only way of reaching polarized audiences, study finds

Cambridge University Press

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In highly polarised situations, open communication is the only way to get through to people, including those who believe in conspiracy myths, revealed a new study in the British Journal of Political Science, published by Cambridge University Press.

Open communication seeks to prompt reflection and can be defined as an ‘open discussion mode’ that is neither debate-style, nor explicitly geared toward finding common ground.

The study found that debate-heavy, challenging ways of communicating did not work in polarised situations. It also found that when societal polarisation is not extreme, how people communicate a message does not influence whether they succeed in depolarising others; rather, exposure to information is all that is needed to move minds.

A study with over 4000 participants

The researchers behind the study analysed results from two population-based survey experiments in Germany and Austria surrounding the COVID-19 crisis: one on the prioritisation of health or freedom (Germany), and the other on the introduction of mandatory vaccination (Austria). The German survey experiment had 2,132 respondents and the Austrian survey experiment had 2,134 respondents.

The researchers found that in the German survey, when communicating about the polarising belief that individual freedom ought to be prioritised over public health, respondents made less constructive proposals when speaking from a contestatory position. Moreover, half of the respondents speaking in a collaborative dynamic made a constructive proposal, whereas only 5 percent in the contestatory dynamic made such a proposal.

The Austrian survey participants were more polarised in their beliefs, with 69.5 percent of respondents having a strong pre-existing belief about vaccines – as opposed to only 37.3 percent of Germans having strong pre-existing beliefs about health in contrast with freedom. In this instance, the researchers found that people’s beliefs could only be moderated via open communication.

Speaking about these findings from the Austrian survey, lead researcher Simon Stocker, Research Fellow at the University of Stuttgart, Germany said:

“These findings suggest that in the context of high polarisation, confronting participants with counter-positions as well as asking them to seek out common ground with the other side is counterproductive, and seems to be perceived as a challenge to one’s own position.

“Only a minimal intervention in the form of an open-ended question makes a positive contribution under such polarised conditions.”

A timely epoch for getting political communication right

Fellow researcher André Bächtiger, Managing Director of the Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Stuttgart, emphasised the importance of communicating effectively about political issues in the present era.

“We are witnessing declining levels of argumentative complexity and of people listening respectfully to different sides of an argument, often in combination with a polarisation of opinions,” said Bächtiger.

“It’s essential that people calibrate political communications well – especially in online spheres, where debate sometimes devolves into unconstructive mudslinging.”

The researchers’ study also has implications for depolarising conspiracy theorists. They found that only open questioning had even a small effect on depolarisation among people with extreme conspiratorial views. In such instances, communicative ‘knock-on’ techniques in the form of open questioning formed the one mode of communication that helped engender more productive conversations.

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Journal

British Journal of Political Science

TWO

10.1017/S0007123425100562 

Method of Research

Survey

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Deepening, Bridging, and Moving Minds in Stressful Times

Article Publication Date

6-Oct-2025

 

Researchers on the verge of solving Mexican mystery

Christophe Helmke and Magnus Pharao Hansen have taken the first steps toward solving a major archaeological mystery surrounding the ancient Mexican city of Teotihuacan. Until now, the language of Teotihuacan has been unknown

University of Copenhagen

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image: 

The Mesoamerican city of Teotihuacan in central Mexico.

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Credit: Christophe Helmke, University of Copenhagen

More than two millennia ago, Teotihuacan was a thriving metropolis in central Mexico with up to 125,000 inhabitants. The city had gigantic pyramids and was a cultural center in Mesoamerica at the time.

But the city, which today consists of ruins and is a popular destination for both archaeologists and tourists, holds a great mystery. Who were its inhabitants?

Researchers Magnus Pharao Hansen and Christopher Helmke from the University of Copenhagen have presented a possible solution to the mystery in the renowned journal Current Anthropology.

By analyzing the signs on Teotihuacan's colorful murals and many other artefacts, they have concluded that the signs constitute an actual writing system, and they believe that this writing records an early form of the Uto-Aztecan language, which a thousand years later developed into the languages Cora, Huichol, and Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs.

The Rome of Mesoamerica
Teotihuacan was founded around 100 BC and was a major cultural center in central Mexico until its fall around 600 AD. Magnus Pharao Hansen and Christophe Helmke make a comparison to the city to Rome, which was the center of the Roman Empire. In the same way, Teotihuacan had great cultural significance in ancient Mesoamerica.

But imagine if we had found ruins from the Roman Empire but knew nothing about the people who lived there. This is largely the case with Teotihuacan.

“There are many different cultures in Mexico. Some of them can be linked to specific archaeological cultures. But others are more uncertain. Teotihuacan is one of those places. We don't know what language they spoke or what later cultures they were linked to,” says Magnus Pharao Hansen.

According to Christophe Helmke, a trained eye can easily distinguish Teotihuacan culture from other contemporary cultures. For example, the ruins in Teotihuacan show that parts of the city were inhabited by the Maya— a civilization that is much better known today than Teotihuacan.

The revival of a language
The ancient people of Teotihuacan left behind a series of signs, mainly as murals and decorated pottery. For years, researchers have debated whether these signs even constitute an actual written language.

Magnus Pharao Hansen and Christophe Helmke show that the writing on the walls of Teotihuacan is in fact record a language that is a linguistic ancestor of the Cora and Huichol languages and the Aztec language Nahuatl.

The Aztecs are another famous culture from Mexico. Until now, it was believed that the Aztecs migrated to central Mexico after the fall of Teotihuacan. However, Magnus Pharao Hansen and Christophe Helmke point to a linguistic connection between Teotihuacan and the Aztec, which could indicate that Nahuatl-speaking populations arrived to the area much earlier and that they are actually direct descendants of the inhabitants of Teotihuacan.

In order to identify the linguistic similarities between the language of Teotihuacan and other Mesoamerican languages, Magnus Pharao Hansen and Christophe Helme had to reconstruct a much earlier version of Nahuatl.

“Otherwise, it would be a bit like trying to decipher the runes on the famous Danish runestones, such as the Jelling Stone, using modern Danish. That would be anachronistic. You have to try to read the text using a language that is closer in time and contemporary,” says Christophe Helmke.

The rebus method
The Teotihuacan written language is difficult to decipher for several reasons. One reason is that the logograms that make up the script sometimes have a direct meaning, so that an image of a coyote, for example, should simply be understood to mean ‘coyote’. Elsewhere in the text, the signs must be read as a kind of rebus, where the sounds of the objects depicted must be put together to form a word, which may be more conceptual and therefore difficult to write as a single figurative logogram.

This makes it crucial to have a good knowledge of both the Teotihuacan writing system and the Uto-Aztecan language, which these researchers believe is recorded in the texts. It is necessary to know how the words sounded back then in order to solve the written puzzles of Teotihuacan.

That is why the researchers are working on several fronts. They are simultaneously reconstructing the Uto-Aztecan language, a difficult task in itself, and using this ancient language to decipher the Teotihuacan texts.

"In Teotihuacan, you can still find pottery with text on it, and we know that more murals will turn up. It is clearly a limitation to our research that we do not have more texts. It would be great if we could find the same signs used in the same way in many more contexts. That would further support our hypothesis, but for now we have to work with the texts we have," says Magnus Pharao Hansen.

Pooling brainpower
Magnus Pharao Hansen and Christophe Helmke are excited about their breakthrough.

"No one before us has used a language that fits the time period to decipher this written language. Nor has anyone been able to prove that certain logograms had a phonetic value that could be used in contexts other than the logogram's main meaning. In this way, we have created a method that can serve as a baseline for others to build on in order to expand their understanding of the texts," says Magnus Pharao Hansen.

Their research has attracted attention among other international experts. The two UCPH researchers would like to host workshops to pool brainpower and further discuss the method with colleagues.

"If we are right, it is not only remarkable that we have deciphered a writing system. It could have implications for our entire understanding of Mesoamerican cultures and, of course, point to a solution to the mystery surrounding the inhabitants of Teotihuacan," says Christophe Helmke.

‘The Language of Teotihuacan Writing’ has been published in the journal Current Anthropology.

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Teotihuacan writing (IMAGE)

University of Copenhagen

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Example of a linear text in Teotihuacan writing painted in three columns on the floor of the Plaza de los Glifos.

Credit

Christophe Helmke, University of Copenhagen

Journal

Current Anthropology

TWO

10.1086/737863 

Method of Research

Content analysis

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

The Language of Teotihuacan Writing