Near-complete assembly of wild emmer wheat unveils centromere reorganization during polyploid evolution.

Near-complete genome assembly of wild emmer wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. dicoccoides, BBAA) resolves centromeric regions for all 14 centromeres and reveals subgenome-specific remodeling.

• Why it matters: Centromere reorganization during polyploidization and domestication is difficult to study without high-resolution references spanning centromeres and their neighboring sequences.
• What they did: The authors built a near-complete wild emmer genome assembly including centromeric regions for all 14 centromeres, then compared centromere-associated sequences and centromere-proximal structure with cultivated tetraploid and hexaploid wheats.
• The result: The A subgenome shows positional shifts and sequence turnover of CRW-rich centromere-derived blocks, while the B subgenome shows reduced CentT566 satellite abundance with localized retention or expansion on specific chromosomes.