BETHESDA, MD. — A draft sequence of the bread wheat genome was published July 18 in the journal Science, marking another major milestone by the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium, the group said. Jorge Dubcovsky, professor at the University of California, Davis, said the development of genome specific primers is achieved in a matter of hours, work that used to take several weeks. With completion of the draft, the I.W.G.S.C. projected the full genome sequence will be available within three years.

“We now know the way forward to obtain a reference sequence for the 20 remaining chromosomes, and we hopefully will be able to find the resources to achieve this in the next three years,” Catherine Feuillet, I.W.G.S.C. co-chairman said.

It was in November 2012 the group announced what it called a “shotgun sequencing,” an important earlier step in sequencing the bread wheat genome. The consortium said final completion of the sequencing will give plant breeders high quality tools to accelerate breeding programs and to identify how genes control traits such as yield, quality, disease, pest resistance or abiotic stress tolerance. As a result, they will be able to breed better wheat varieties.

“The draft sequence is already providing new insights into the history and evolution of the wheat genome and genes involved in grain development,” the consortium said.