A walk towards Wild grasses to unlock the clandestine of gene pools for wheat improvement: A review

ABSTRACT: Climate change has been regarded as an indication of biodiversity loss over the past three decades, and it has posed a threat to agriculture around the world. Under this situation, over-exploitation and selection for specific features have resulted in a reduction in genetic diversity, particularly in cultivated cereals. In the primary and secondary gene pools of wheat, no new insights or gene possibilities have been left, as expected. In this approach, plant breeders may be able to generate wheat climate-resilient cultivars by utilizing the diversity of essential genes found in wheat grasses from the tertiary gene pool. The major indicator for sourcing is the adaptation of grasses. Grasses acclimatization is the primary indication for sources of novel abiotic tolerance genes which help them to withstand tropical to temperate environments. Wild grasses hold a significant position in ploidy level and also can maintain flexibility which gives the insight to widen the genomic architecture of cultivated wheat cultivars. In the present article, the information on domestication of wheat, gene pool, and involvement of wheat wild relatives has been summarised. Additionally, the paper highlights the negative effect of wild introgression during successful alien trait transfer.