The Genetic Basis of Wheat Spike Architecture

Wheat is one of the three major staple crops globally. The wheat spike serves as the primary structure bearing wheat grains. Spike architectures of wheat have a direct impact on the number of grains per spike, and thus the grain yield per spike. The development of wheat spike morphology is conserved to some extent in cereal crops, yet also exhibits differences, being strictly regulated by photoperiod and temperature. This paper compiles QTLs and genes related to wheat spike traits that have been published over the past two decades, summarizes the photoperiod and vernalization pathways influencing the transition from vegetative to reproductive growth, and organizes the key regulatory networks controlling spikelet and floret development. Additionally, it anticipates advancements in wheat gene cloning methods, challenges in optimizing wheat spike architecture for high yield and future directions in wheat spike trait research.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  Agriculture

• Publication date

  2025-07-22

• Fields of study

  Not labeled

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.3390/agriculture15151575
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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