Special Issue: Breeding Towards Agricultural Sustainability - Invited

Wheat yields are stagnating around the world and new sources of genes for resistance or tolerances to abiotic traits are required. In this context, the tetraploid wheat wild relatives are among the key candidates for wheat improvement. Despite of its potential huge value for wheat breeding, the tetraploid GGAtAt genepool is largely neglected. Understanding the population structure, native distribution range, intraspecific variation of the entire tetraploid GGAtAt genepool and its domestication history would further its use for wheat improvement. We report the first comprehensive survey of genomic and cytogenetic diversity sampling the full breadth and depth of the tetraploid GGAtAt genepool. We show that the extant GGAtAt genepool consists of three distinct lineages. We provide detailed insights into the cytogenetic composition of GGAtAt wheats, revealed group-, and population-specific markers and show that chromosomal rearrangements play an important role in intraspecific diversity of T. araraticum. We discuss the origin and domestication history of the GGAtAt lineages in the context of state-of-the-art archaeobotanical finds. We shed new light on the complex evolutionary history of the GGAtAt wheat genepool. We provide the basis for an increased use of the GGAtAt wheat genepool for wheat improvement. The findings have implications for our understanding of the origins of agriculture in southwest Asia.