Polish wheat facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Polish wheat |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Triticum
|
| Species: |
polonicum
|
| Synonyms | |
|
|
Triticum polonicum, also known as Polish wheat, is a special kind of wheat. It is a spring wheat variety, meaning it's usually planted in spring. This plant is an allotetraploid species, which means it has four sets of chromosomes. In total, it has 28 chromosomes.
You can find Polish wheat in small areas around the Mediterranean region. It also grows in Ethiopia, Russia, and other parts of Asia. The famous scientist Carl Linnaeus first described this unique wheat in 1762. T. polonicum is easy to spot because it has longer glumes (the protective covers around the grain) and longer grains than other wheat types.
How Polish Wheat Grows
Genetics of Its Long Glumes
Scientists have studied Triticum polonicum for a long time. In 1905, and then more clearly in 1920, they discovered something interesting about its long glumes. The length of these glumes is controlled by just one special part of its DNA, called a gene.
This gene is named P1. It acts in a semi-dominant way. This means that if a plant has one copy of the P1 gene, its glumes will be longer than a plant with no copies, but maybe not as long as a plant with two copies.
The P1 gene is found on chromosome 7A, which is one of the 28 chromosomes. This gene is also pleiotropic. This means it affects more than one thing about the plant. Besides making the glumes and grains longer, it also influences the length of the flower spike (the part that holds the grains). It can also lead to fewer spikelets (small groups of flowers) on each spike.
Other types of wheat, like T. petropavlovskyi and a Portuguese wheat group called "Arrancada", also have long glumes and grains. Scientists think this might be because they share some ancestry with T. polonicum.
See also
In Spanish: Triticum polonicum para niños
