Wild emmer wheat [T. turgidum ssp. dicoccoides (Körn.) Thell.] is a winter annual predominantly self-pollinating grass of the poaceae family, considered to be the progenitor of domesticated wheat.  It is fully compatible with the tetraploid (2n=4x=28; BBAA) durum wheat [T. turgidum ssp. durum (Desf.) MacKey] and can be crossed with the hexaploid (2n=6x=42; BBAADD) bread wheat (T. aestivum L.).  Wild emmer is an allotetraploid species comprised of two genomes (A and B) with 2n=4x=28 chromosomes.  The A genome originated from T. urartu (2n=14, AA-genome) and the B genome from Aegilops speltoides (2n= 14, SS-genome) or an extinct closely related species.  Both genomes derived from a common ancestor about 2.5–4.5 million years ago and rejoined in a common nucleus about 0.36–0.5 million years ago by spontaneous amphiploidization event.

         Native stands of wild emmer wheat are distributed throughout the Near Eastern Fertile Crescent, scattered across Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, eastern Turkey, western Iran and northern Iraq.   In certain places, it is quite common and locally abundant, occupying a variety of primary and to lesser extent secondary habitats such as abandoned fields or edges of cultivated plots.  In most of these habitats it grows in patches of mixed stands with other Mediterranean grasses, such as wild barley and wild oats, and a variety of wild legumes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wild emmer wheat as source for wheat improvement

Wild emmer genepool harbors wide genetic diversity for numerous economically important traits such as germination, biomass, earliness, photosynthetic capacity, vernalization response, salinity tolerance, drought resistance, grain nutrient and protein constituents, disease resistances: powdery mildew, stripe rust and leaf rust.  The wide genetic diversity in wild emmer and the genetic similarity with domesticated wheats, suggest that wild emmer wheat may serve as a valuable and easy to use genetic resource for wheat improvement.