US researchers recently isolated and cloned a gene that controls the flowering of wheat. This result is expected to be used to more effectively regulate wheat flowering and develop more productive crop varieties. A team led by Prof. Dubkovski at the University of California, Davis, conducted research on thousands of wheat, rice, and sorghum, and mapped a detailed genetic map of the corresponding chromosomal region of the crop. Through comparative analysis, researchers finally determined the position of the wheat gene called "VRN1". The research results have been published recently in the "Journal of the National Academy of Sciences" in the United States. The newly isolated "VRN1" gene mainly controls the vernalization of wheat. Wheat in the seed germination or seedling period must go through a period of low temperature in order to heading and flowering and eventually produce wheat, this is the so-called vernalization process. It is believed that vernalization is likely to be a protective mechanism in the process of crop evolution, which can prevent sensitive flowering parts from developing in advance during the winter and suffer from low temperature damage. Researchers point out that in the future, it may be possible to develop new varieties of wheat that are more suitable for a certain climate by controlling the "VRN1" gene.