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20 I EUROPEAN SEED I EUROPEAN-SEED.COM20 I EUROPEAN SEED I EUROPEAN-SEED.COM completed in France and published in 2014 in the same special issue of Science as the draft sequences. Reference sequencing of 13 other chromosomes is underway in 11 countries and will be completed over the next 18 months. The IWGSC is currently seeking funding for the remaining seven chromosomes and proposals for two are pending before national funding agencies. SUCCESSFUL AND SUSTAINABLE PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP International research laboratories and seed companies have been instrumental in achieving IWGSC milestones. The wheat genome sequencing project is an example of a successful and sustainable public-private partnership with clear and consistent objectives designed to produce resources for breeders and ultimately growers. The chromosome-based approach allowed the IWGSC to support building skills and resources in many countries by engaging research teams in the development of physical maps and sequences. Even though this international participatory effort adds to coordination challenges it facilitates cost sharing and rapid application of the data into the numerous wheat breeding programs around the world. The IWGSC currently has projects in 21 countries and 1100 members representing 361 research institutions or private companies in 55 countries. An additional 350 individuals from 56 institutes and five additional countries are registered to utilize the publicly available data that has been generated by IWGSC projects. CONTRIBUTIONS AND BENEFITS FOR SEED COMPANIES AND GROWERS Seed companies and grower organisations have been involved in the consortium since its establishment. An essential aspect of their contribution is to provide input on strategic orientations. For example their input was critical at the beginning as it was necessary to decide which wheat variety Generate physical maps that serve as sub- strates for sequencing and Complete map-based reference sequences that accurately order more than 90 per cent of the genomic information and link the sequence to genetic and phenotypic maps. While the draft sequence provides useful infor- mation to breeders for marker assisted selection the physical map-based strategy remains the only approach that can efficiently deliver with todays sequencing technology a high-quality ordered sequence comparable to the gold stand- ard reference sequence of rice. The IWGSC regu- larly adapts its strategy to integrate the newest sequencing technologies while maintaining the objective of a high-quality reference sequence. A physical map-based sequence is the best resource for understanding genome function as it provides access to the complete gene cata- logue permits the identification and functional analysis of regulatory features and chromosomal organization and provides accurate maps of genetic markers and intra-and inter-species variation that can be associated with specific traits such as quality yield drought tolerance or durable disease resistance. SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENTS The first milestone was reached in July 2014 with the publication in the journal Science of draft sequences for each of the 21 wheat chro- mosomes and a putative order for about half of the genes on each chromosome. While not yet representing a complete sequence the capacity for the first time to identify the localisation of a gene on a wheat chromosome in silico is already helping us to speed up our breeding efforts and map-based cloning projects for trait improvement says Catherine Feuillet head of trait research at Bayer CropSciences and IWGSC board member. The completion of the second milestone is well underway as physical maps for 16 chromosomes have been developed and five draft maps should be finished before the end of 2016. Progress towards the final milestone is gathering momentum. The first reference sequence of a wheat chromosome 3B was should be sequenced. Bread wheat was selected as that is the variety grown by 95 per cent of the farmers. Simultaneously seed companies wanted access to the sequence of bread wheat rather than that of wild diploid wheat because they wanted tools that could have a direct immediate impact on their wheat breeding programs. A nother contribution is financial. By paying an annual sponsorship fee to the IWGSC seed companies and grower organisations enable the professional m a n a gement of t he con sor t iu m t he orga n i s at ion of work shops a nd t he development of communication materials to provide platforms for developing and advancing projects. Finally seed companies can support projects directly if they wish to accelerate the global achievement of the objectives. For example in 2011 Graminor and Biogemma provided the first funding support for the draft sequencing of the 21 chromosomes while Bayer CropScience provided 1 million in 2014 to achieve the physical maps. In return for their support seed companies and grower organizations are part of the Coordinating Committee and have pre-publication access to all data which can greatly accelerate the implementation of the sequence-based resources into their own breeding programs. Varietal improvements based on data from IWGSC projects are emerging already. For example CDC Fortitude a new durum wheat cultivar was developed by a team at the University of Saskatchewan Crop Development Centre in Canada in part using DNA markers that were identified from early access to the reference sequence of chromosome 3B. Moreover about a dozen genes related to controlling traits involved in the resistance to pathogens drought tolerance and yield are being isolated currently using the reference sequence information of chromosome 3B. Ultimately growers will benefit from the work of the consortium by having access to new varieties more rapidly than today and having access to those that are developed with technologies not yet accessible in wheat. Having an enabling tool such as a reference sequence will increase future investments in wheat breeding for the benefit of growers because companies will have a better mechanism for value capture. A FUNDING CHALLENGE Securing funding for sequencing the wheat genome has been and remains a challenge. In contrast to other sequencing projects the IWGSC has not been allocated a lump sum for the whole sequencing project but has had to work with project leaders all over the world to secure funding from national agencies and private companies. Over the last 10 years the IWGSC has raised approximately 50 million for physical mapping and sequencing projects. About 11.5 million in funding is still needed to produce assemble and make available all remaining sequence data. Provided that fund- ing is secured soon the IWGSC anticipates that a high-quality genome sequence for bread wheat could be publicly available by 2018. The IWGSC is working toward the goal of another 16 chromosomes and they plan to have five draft maps before the end of 2016.