Intermediate wheatgrass (IWG, Thinopyrum intermedium [Host] Barkworth & D. R. Dewey) has been developed as a perennial grain crop for human consumption along with providing environmental benefits and ecosystem services. Grain and products derived from IWG cultivars improved for food production have been marketed under the registered trademark, Kernza. Development of IWG as a perennial grain crop began in 1980s with a phenotypi...

Key message Analysis of multi-year breeding program data revealed that the genetic architecture of an intermediate wheatgrass population was highly polygenic for both domestication and agronomic traits, supporting the use of genomic selection for new crop domestication. Abstract Perennial grains have the potential to provide food for humans and decrease the negative impacts of annual agriculture. Intermediate wheatgrass (IWG,...

Understanding the mechanisms of spatial variation of biological invasions, across local‐to‐global scales, has been a major challenge. The importance of evolutionary history for invasion dynamics was noted by Darwin, and several studies have since considered how biodiversity of source and recipient regions can influence the probability of invasions. For over a century, the Panama Canal has connected water bodies and biotas with...

Key Message Paternity assignment and genome-wide association analyses for fertility were applied to a Thinopyrum intermedium breeding program. A lack of progeny between combinations of parents was associated with loci near self-incompatibility genes. Abstract In outcrossing species such as intermediate wheatgrass (IWG, Thinopyrum intermedium ), polycrossing is often used to generate novel recombinants through each cycle of sel...