Workshop: Wheat Genome Sequencing to be held in Washington, DC , November 9-11, 2003

小麦是种植最广泛的农作物，占所有耕地的17%，占世界人口的40%，提供了20%的卡路里消耗。小麦还提供了世界上约55%的碳水化合物。为了满足2050年的人类需求，粮食产量需要以每年1.5%的速度增长，而土地面积不会超过目前的水平。这意味着必须在对小麦植物和谷物生物学的了解方面取得重大进展，以增加绝对产量，并保护作物免受生物(害虫)和非生物胁迫(高温、干旱和盐分)造成的25%的损失。由于小麦基因组中丰富的细胞遗传学、分子和人力资源，对其基因组富含基因的区域进行测序是可行的。研讨会的目的是利用其他基因组测序项目的专业知识，为可能的小麦基因组测序项目制定计划。研讨会将提出更广泛的问题，例如：我们需要对小麦基因组进行测序吗？现有谷物序列资源不能满足序列的科学需求是什么？现在是时候进行排序了吗？什么基因组应该测序(二倍体还是六倍体)？应该生成哪种类型的序列(全基因组猎枪、选定的BAC等)？可以使用什么策略来产生所需类型的序列？下一步应该遵循什么时间表？更广泛的社区将如何参与？在2004年1月下一次植物和动物基因组会议之前，将出版一份报告的硬拷贝，并在相关网站上张贴。

Wheat is the most widely grown crop, comprising 17% of all cultivated land, a staple of 40% of the world's population providing 20% of the calories consumed. Wheat also provides approximately 55% of the worlds carbohydrates. To meet human demands in 2050, grain production needs to increase at an annual rate of 1.5+% on an area of land that will not increase much beyond present levels. This implies that significant advances in the understanding of the wheat plant and grain biology must occur in order to increase absolute yield as well as protect the crop from 25% loss due to biotic (pests) and abiotic stress (heat, drought, and salinity). Sequencing of the gene-rich regions of wheat genome is feasible due to the abundance of cytogenetic, molecular, and human resources. The purpose of the workshop is to establish a plan, utilizing the expertise from other genome sequencing projects, for a possible wheat genome-sequencing project. The workshop will pose broader questions such as: Do we need to sequence the wheat genome? What are the scientific needs for the sequence that cannot be met with existing cereal sequence resources? Is it time to sequence now? What genome should be sequenced (diploid or hexaploid)? What type of sequence should be generated (whole genome shotgun, selected BACs, etc)? What strategies could be used to yield the type of sequence needed? What timetable should be followed for the next steps? How will the broader community be engaged?A report will be published in hardcopy and posted on pertinent websites before the next Plant and Animal Genome meeting in January 2004.