Wild emmer genome architecture and diversity elucidate wheat evolution and domestication

Wheat ( Triticum spp.) is one of the founder crops that likely drove the Neolithic transition to sedentary agrarian societiesin the Fertile Crescent more than 10,000 years ago. Identifying genetic modifications underlying wheat’s domestication requires knowledge about the genomeof its allo-tetraploid progenitor, wild emmer ( T. turgidum ssp. dicoccoides ). We report a 10.1-gigabase assembly of the 14 chromosomes of wild tetraploid wheat, as well as analyses of gene content, genomearchitecture, and genetic diversity. With this fully assembled polyploidwheat genome, we identified the causal mutations in Brittle Rachis1 ( TtBtr1 ) genes controlling shattering, a key domestication trait. A study of genomicdiversity among wild and domesticated accessions revealed genomicregions bearing the signature of selection under domestication. This reference assembly will serve as a resource for accelerating the genome-assisted improvement of modern wheat varieties.