Genetius

The study leverages a 30‑year dataset of winter wheat trials across six Swiss sites, applying explainable AI and interpretable machine‑learning methods to identify key climatic drivers of yield. Findings highlight cumulative solar radiation, precipitation, and genotype composition as primary determinants, with a yield plateau observed above ~3000 MJ m⁻² of solar radiation, indicating complex genotype‑by‑environment interactions. The framework demonstrates how XAI can enhance biological insight and guide breeding and adaptation strategies under climate change.

The researchers optimized Agrobacterium‑mediated transformation parameters for immature embryo, callus, and in‑planta methods in wheat, achieving efficiencies of up to 66.84% and shortening the callus induction stage by about one month. Validation with CRISPR/Cas9 knockout of the negative regulator TaARE1‑D produced mutants showing increased grain number, spike length, grain size, thousand‑grain weight, and a stay‑green phenotype, demonstrating the protocol’s potential to accelerate yield‑enhancing gene editing.

The study refines the Cereal Anthesis Molecular Phenology (CAMP) model that integrates Vrn gene expression to predict wheat anthesis timing, validates its assumptions across six wheat genotypes under diverse temperature and photoperiod conditions, and introduces a phenotyping protocol using final leaf number. While model predictions generally align with observed foliar Vrn expression, discrepancies highlight tissue‑specific expression and scaling issues, demonstrating the model’s utility for quantitative genotype‑environment predictions.

The study compared wheat grown on regenerated ley soil versus conventional ploughed or disc‑cultivated soils, finding that ley soils had lower bulk density, higher water‑stable macroaggregates, and yielded 77‑123% more despite a marked reduction in root biomass and photosynthate allocation to roots under drought. Pulse‑labeling revealed most 14C remained in shoots, with negligible soil carbon sequestration, indicating that macroaggregation improvements did not translate into increased soil carbon storage.

The authors introduce the Rapid Anatomics Tool (RAT), a low-cost, high‑throughput system that combines block‑face and stain‑free near‑UV autofluorescence imaging to capture root cross‑sections across multiple species. Using RAT, they examined mature wheat crown roots and found a progressive decrease in vascular complexity from base to tip, underscoring the need for comprehensive sampling in root anatomical studies.

The study reports an optimized Agrobacterium-mediated transformation protocol for bread wheat that incorporates a GRF4‑GIF1 fusion to boost regeneration and achieve genotype‑independent transformation across multiple cultivars. The method consistently improves transformation efficiency while reducing pleiotropic effects, facilitating functional genomics and gene‑editing applications in wheat.

The study characterizes a gain-of-function mutant of the wheat CCG10‑NLR protein WAI3 that forms a novel octameric resistosome, as revealed by cryo‑EM. This resistosome mediates sustained cytosolic calcium influx via a unique channel architecture, a feature shared with the Arabidopsis CCG10‑NLR RPS2, indicating conserved structural mechanisms across monocots and dicots.

The study used spatial transcriptomics to map gene expression dynamics in wheat inflorescences, revealing two distinct regions— a primordium region with RAMOSA2 activity and a boundary region expressing ALOG1 and bract‑suppression regulators—that govern spikelet architecture. Developmental assays linked meristematic differentiation to vascular formation in the rachis, identifying key regulators and potential targets for enhancing spikelet number and yield.

The study investigated how soil phosphorus and nitrogen levels influence the diversity and functional activity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) associated with wheat roots, using field samples from a long-term P fertilisation trial and controlled experiments. Results showed that both P and N availability jointly affect AMF colonisation, transporter gene expression, and community composition, with the Funneliformis genus becoming dominant under high P conditions. Integrating AMF community profiling with molecular markers provides a framework to assess AMF contributions to plant nutrition in agroecosystems.

The study examined wheat seedling cell‑wall remodeling under drought, targeting hydroxyproline‑rich glycoproteins, xylan and pectic compounds. Within five days of water deficit, organ‑specific changes included polymer aggregation and degradation, deposition of un‑esterified homogalacturonans and AGPs, and calcium cross‑linking that increases wall rigidity and aids intracellular water preservation.