As global temperatures rise, insect populations have expanded to new regions and reproduce more rapidly – making them a serious threat to cultivated wheat. A new study led by University of Haifa and Ben Gurion University of the Negev has identified a trait in wild Emmer wheat that protect it from insects. Emmer wheat, native to Israel, has at least two defense methods against insects: a coating of “hairs” that prevent insects from finding a place to burrow into the stalk; and poison it produces called “benzoxazinoid” that discourages bugs from eating it. Dr. Hanan Sela (Institute of Evolution) suggest that these protective traits may be bred into cultivated wheat varieties. The study was published in Journal of Experimental Botany and Frontiers in Plant Science.   | READ MORE

Credit: Eli Gross