DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aav9188

Abstract

Cultivated wheats are derived from an intricate history of three genomes, A, B, and D, present in both diploid and polyploid species. It was recently proposed that the D genome originated from an ancient hybridization between the A and B lineages. However, this result has been questioned, and a robust phylogeny of wheat relatives is still lacking. Using transcriptome data from all diploid species and a new methodological approach, our comprehensive phylogenomic analysis revealed that more than half of the species descend from an ancient hybridization event but with a more complex scenario involving a different parent than previously thought— Aegilops mutica, an overlooked wild species— instead of the B genome. We also detected other extensive gene flow events that could explain long-standing controversies in the classification of wheat relatives.