Agropyron cristatum is a wild crop relative what makes this species attractive as a possible donor of genes for crop improvement. This species is well known for its resistance and tolerance genes. We sequenced individual chromosomes of Agropyron cristatum cv. Parkway and its wheat-Agropyron addition lines to find simple sequence repeat markers that could help breeders in their breeding programs. 

Firstly, we used flow cytometry sorting of studied plant material, which is the well-established approach in our laboratory. We sorted individual chromosomes (1P - 7P) of Agropyron followed by amplification of their DNA using two different amplification methods. Libraries for sequencing were prepared and sequencing was done on HiSeq and MiSeq Illumina instruments. 

Secondly, we used the datasets for de novo assembly, SSR markers development and their verification via PCR method with appropriate primers. Other usage of the sequences was to study orthologous relationship between Agropyron and wheat subgenomes and we also looked at representation of genic and non-genic sequences in Agropyron itself.

Stored datasets are assembled scaffolds of each Agropyron chromosomes, that could be of a high value in breeding studies for the characterization of a progeny or a breeding material itself.