availability of the high-quality IWGSC reference genome, we have used a comprehensive analysis workflow to precisely characterize the allergens and antigens in wheat proteins.” Olsen’s team has now identified 356 such genes. Of these, 127 are new to science, and 222 were known but had been incorrectly sequenced. This information helps under- pin research to modify or reduce the potential harm- ful effects of these proteins through selective breeding or improved targeted genetic modification. Using the genome, breed- ers could also use plant breeding innovations, such as CRISPR, to rapidly alter specific characteristics. To show the ease at which this could be done, the IWGSC identified the wheat genes that influence flowering time and altered them with CRISPR to create varieties that bloom a few days earlier than usual. These techniques could also be used to move beneficial traits from wild wheat species into domestic strains. The genome could also help bolster wheat’s resistance to disease. Drawing on the consortium data, Pozniak and Kirby Nilsen at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, found a gene that stiffens wheat stems, making them more resistant to sawflies. Stiffer wheat has more copies of the gene, Nilsen found, which points to ways to pro- tect other wheat varieties. “What took us years in the past now takes us one night,” says Jorge Dubcovsky of the University of California, Davis, who recently found a new gene for wheat height. “It’s like walking with a Google map.” Despite the enormous opportunities, not all is rosy. Public approval and regula- tory restrictions will dictate just how far and how fast researchers are able to modify wheat as we know it. In July, the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg, ruled that CRISPR-edited crops will be regulated as genetically- modified organisms, even if they don’t introduce genes from other organisms. Much to the dismay of the scientific community, CRISPR-derived crops now face a long and expensive approval process. So even though the tech- nological and scientific capac- ity exists to quickly modify wheat, many will opt not to and continue using traditional breeding methods. The genomic informa- tion decoded by the IWGSC can benefit wheat breed- ers working to bring new non-GM traits with inherent value sought by consumers into various backgrounds to develop more widely-adapted varieties. One of the most recent developments using traditional breeding is that of high fiber wheat. In June 2017, Bay State Milling Company launched HealthSense high fiber wheat flour milled from specific varieties of wheat that are conventionally bred without gene editing to increase the amount of amylose, a naturally occurring starch that resists digestion and meets the U.S. Food and Drug Administration definition of dietary fiber. FDA defines dietary fiber as consisting of naturally- occurring fibers that are “intrinsic and intact” in plants, and other non-digestible soluble and insoluble carbo- hydrates that have beneficial physiological effects to human health. Amylose Alteration “HealthSense is a one-of-a- kind wheat flour with up to 10 times more dietary fiber than traditional wheat flour,” says Sean Finnie, Bay State Milling senior manager of research and development. “High fiber wheat has more amylose than amylopectin, which causes the starch to resist being broken down by digestive enzymes. “It is a low-cost source of food fiber that is raised on a farm, not manufactured in a factory. Food fiber addi- tives are five to 20 times more expensive than our HealthSense high fiber wheat. There is inherent value along the entire supply chain, from breeders to farmers, and from millers to bakers.” A naturally-occurring starch, amylose resists diges- tion and acts as dietary fiber. Bay State Milling’s HealthSense flour contains 25 percent dietary fiber, compared to 3 percent dietary fiber for traditional wheat flour. There is no chemical dif- ference in high fiber wheat; it’s simply a difference in the amylopectin ratio. Amylose production is a one-step biochemical pro- cess, which adds one mol- ecule of glucose at a time to form a protein chain. The amylopectin pathway is more complex with three steps. The first step is to build linear mol- ecules of amylose. Step two stops the formation of branch points to the chain. The final step is to make the amylose molecule more compact. It is the second step that makes the starch more resistant to digestion, resulting in it being a dietary fiber. Because the amylose is in the flour, there is no differ- ence in dietary fiber between whole grain and milled flour. “A simple change in the wheat’s biochemistry has a dramatic impact on the finished product,” Finnie says. “Plant breeders looked for varieties with mutations in the starch-branching step, the second step in amylopectin synthesis and found varieties with mutations in the starch FEBRUARY 2019 SEEDWORLD.COM / 37 Kellye Eversole is the executive director for the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium.