Wheat SNP database


Important Note

Via this web site and associated publications, we have placed all the data related to each and every SNP, including available flanking sequences (usually 120 base pairs or greater), into the public domain. We hope that by making this information freely available without any restrictions, it will encourage other wheat geneticists to do likewise so ensuring that all such markers are made public and free of use. Only by following this principle can we hope to ensure that wheat breeders across the world are in possession of the tools they require to create the new varieties that will be needed to help feed the World beyond 2050.

If you use information gathered from this site in any publications, please cite the following articles:



The CerealDB SNP database was updated on May 1st 2013

The SNP database contains
Varietal SNPs: 99945
Validated SNPs: 7228
Mapped SNPs (Avalon x Cadenza): 3629
Mapped SNPs (Savannah x Rialto): 1886
Mapped SNPs (Synthetic x Opata): 201
Wheat varieties studied: 169

This site has been designed with breeders in mind, and we hope that is will be easy and straightforward to use. Principally the site is aimed at those who wish to obtain information about SNP markers; e.g., the sequence upon which they are based, obtain primers used for their identification, identify the haplotypes of common UK varieties. However, there are pages that describe, in simple terms, what SNPs are and how they can be a wonderful tool for the breeder. To gather such information, please follow the links on the menu bar to the left.

Information on genetic relationships among individuals is of importance to plant breeders for line and hybrid development. Estimates on the genetic similarity of breeding materials is best obtained using DNA markers. The most abundant genetic polymorphisms between individuals are Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms. SNPs are single base pair positions at which different sequence alternatives exist between two individuals (a simple description can be found here).

The work behind this study was undertaken to mine the UK wheat germplasm for varietal SNPs. Twenty-three wheat varieties were used in the initial study (see table below). To do this, we used both the available wheat expressed sequence tags (ESTs) that are reposited in the public databases and next-generation sequencing (NGS), together with a novel sequence alignment and assembly approach to identify varietal SNPs in lines of interest to European wheat breeders. We then investigated whether these SNPs could be validated by the LGC Genomics (formerly KBioscience) high-throughput genotyping procedure, Competitive Allele-Specific polymerase chain reaction (KASP) assay. Finally, we made use of the existing Avalon X Cadenza mapping population to examine whether the validated SNPs could be efficiently placed onto the existing linkage groups identified within this doubled haploid population. The details of this work are available in the article Transcript-specific, single-nucleotide polymorphism discovery and linkage analysis in hexaploid bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.).

Additional platforms (TaqMan, iSelect) have now been used to validate some of our SNPs. Information on these assay can be found by following the relevants links on the menu.


Wheat variety Breeder/Source Ploidy Planting Pedigree
Alcedo NIAB Hexaploid Winter  (Record AUT x Poros) x Carstens-VIII
Alchemy Limagrain UK Ltd Hexaploid Winter Claire x (Consort x Woodstock)
Avalon Plant Breeding International Cambridge Ltd. Hexaploid Winter Maris-Ploughman x Bilbo
Bacanora CIMMYT Hexaploid Spring (Jupateco-73 x BlueJay) x Ures-81
Brompton Elsoms Seeds Ltd Hexaploid Winter CWW 92.1 x Caxton
Cadenza CPB Twyford Ltd Hexaploid Spring Axona x Tonic
Chinese Spring (L42) JIC Hexaploid Spring A Chinese Land Race
Claire Limagrain UK Ltd Hexaploid Winter Wasp x Flame
Croc WGGRC Tetraploid Spring Triticum turgidum subsp. Dicoccoides (AB genome)
Hereward RAGT seeds Ltd Hexaploid Winter Norman ‘sib’ x Disponent
Opata CIMMYT Hexaploid Spring Bluejay x Jupateco-73
Recital C.C. Benoist Hexaploid Winter Mexique-267 (R-267) x 9369
Renan INRA Hexaploid Winter (Mironovskaya-808 x Maris-Huntsman) x Courtot
Rialto RAGT seeds Ltd Hexaploid Winter Haven x Fresco
Robigus KWS UK Ltd Hexaploid Winter Z836 x 1366 (PUTCH)
Savannah Zeneca Seeds UK Ltd. Hexaploid Winter Riband x Brigadier
Shamrock Verneuil Recherche Hexaploid Winter COMPL TIG 323-1-3m x CWW 4899/25
Soissons Maison Florimond Desprez France Hexaploid Winter Iena (Jena) x HN35
Synthetic John Innes Centre Hexaploid Spring Unknown
Synthetic 39 WGGRC Hexaploid Spring TA1618 x Croc
TA1618 WGGRC Diploid Spring Aegilops tauschii (D genome)
Weebil CIMMYT Hexaploid Spring Unknown
Xi19 Limagrain UK Ltd Hexaploid Spring (Cadenza x Rialto) x Cadenza