LAUSR

Key messageThe large and complex genomes of many cereals hindered cloning efforts in the past. Advances in genomics now allow the rapid cloning of genes from humanity’s most valuable crops.AbstractThe past two decades were characterized by a genomics revolution that entailed profound changes to crop research, plant breeding, and agriculture. Today, high-quality reference sequences are available for all major cereal crop species. Large resequencing and pan-genome projects start to reveal a more comprehensive picture of the genetic makeup and the diversity among domesticated cereals and their wild relatives. These technological advancements will have a dramatic effect on dissecting genotype–phenotype associations and on gene cloning. In this review, we will highlight the status of the genomic resources available for various cereal crops and we will discuss their implications for gene cloning. A particular focus will be given to the cereal species barley and wheat, which are characterized by very large and complex genomes that have been inaccessible to rapid gene cloning until recently. With the advancements in genomics and the development of several rapid gene-cloning methods, it has now become feasible to tackle the cloning of most agriculturally important genes, even in wheat and barley.