Wheat Content

Egghead Weekend Basket for April 17

Andy Fell — April 17, 2026 - 2:56pm

It's the 112th 51�ԹϺ�� Davis Picnic Day tomorrow (April 18) and whether your tastes run to cockroach races or fashion, there's something for every taste on campus. A rundown from Dateline and highlights of arts activities here.

And in research news from the past couple of weeks:

Good News for Pasta Lovers: Durum Wheat Resistant to Deadly Stripe Rust Developed

Andy Fell — April 13, 2026 - 4:10pm

On a sunny day in early April, young wheat plants stood waist-high in test fields near the 51�ԹϺ�� Davis campus, their heads full of still-green grain. A walk along some furrows left pants and boots covered with a fine, orange dust. These plants were bred to fight a stubborn pathogen that threatens the world’s wheat: stripe rust.

Wheat That Makes Its Own Fertilizer

Amy M Quinton — August 27, 2025 - 8:00am

51�ԹϺ�� Davis scientists have developed wheat plants that produce their own fertilizer, opening the door for less air and water pollution and lower costs for farmers.

Targeting Gluten: Researchers Delete Proteins in Wheat Harmful to People with Celiac Disease

Emily C Dooley — May 05, 2025 - 9:01am

A 51�ԹϺ�� Davis study found that deleting a cluster of genes in wheat may reduce wheat allergies without harming breadmaking.

51�ԹϺ�� Davis to Lead $15 Million Research Into Climate-Change-Resistant Wheat

Amy M Quinton — February 08, 2022 - 9:30am

51�ԹϺ�� Davis is leading a $15 million research project to accelerate wheat breeding in response to climate change.

51�ԹϺ�� Davis Team Identifies Wheat Gene That Increases Yield

Andy Fell — February 02, 2022 - 10:59am

A team of scientists from University of California, Davis, has identified a new gene variant in wheat that can increase the amount of the grain produced, new research published in the journal PLOS Genetics finds.

Wheat is a staple of food diets worldwide and the gene discovery could allow farmers to grow more food without increasing land use. Increased yield could also lower consumer prices, making the crop more accessible.

Gene Discovery May Halt Worldwide Wheat Epidemic

Amy M Quinton — November 16, 2017 - 7:00am

University of California, Davis, researchers have identified a gene that enables resistance to a new devastating strain of stem rust, a fungal disease that is hampering wheat production throughout Africa and Asia and threatening food security worldwide.

Genome of Wheat Ancestor Sequenced

Amy M Quinton — November 15, 2017 - 11:00am

Sequencing the bread wheat genome has long been considered an almost insurmountable task, due to its enormous size and complexity. Yet it is vitally important for the global food supply, providing more than 20 percent of the calories and 23 percent of the protein consumed by humans.

Now, an international team of scientists led by researchers at the University of California, Davis, has come a step closer to solving the puzzle by sequencing the genome of a wild ancestor of bread wheat known as Aegilops tauschii, a type of goatgrass.

Climate Change Will Cut Cereal Yields, Model Predicts

Patricia Bailey — May 15, 2017 - 9:29am

51�ԹϺ�� Davis researchers report that their new flexible statistical model predicts that climate change will cause wheat and barley yields to decline by 17 to 33 percent by the end of the century.

New $9.7 Million Grant Funds Search for Wheat-Yield Genes

Patricia Bailey — December 22, 2016 - 1:01pm

51�ԹϺ�� Davis plant geneticist Jorge Dubcovsky is leading an international effort to increase wheat yield, using new technology to identify the genes that affect the many facets of overall yield in wheat.