Transcriptomes of synthetic wheat allohexaploid and related natural species

Bread wheat is an allohexaploid species that emerged <10,000 years ago from a hybridization between Aegilops tauschii and durum wheat. Polyploidization is associated with suite of genomic changes that include transcriptional reprogramming of a fraction of genes. On the other hand, established polyploids exhibit unbalanced expression for a large part of homoeologous genes (corresponding orthologs originating from the parental species). This project explores the extent of transcriptomic changes in nascent wheat allohexaploids in developing endosperm and mature leaves, across different synthetic genotypes, reciprocal cross directions and consecutive generations. It also aims to investigate changes in the transcription of transposable elements, and the relationship between differential expression and homoeolog bias.