Binning and Mapping Markers Plant genomes are far more flexible and forgiving than are ours. Many of our most valuable crop plants are polyploids. Containing more than 2 haploid genomes per somatic cell.
Bread wheat is a allohexaploid.
It contains three complete sets of diploid genomes, each of which contained 14 chromosomes. Wheat somatic cells contain 42 chromosomes. During meiosis, wheat acts as though it is a diploid, with 21 pairs of chromosomes forming on the synaptonemal complex. These separate appropriately during the reductive division, and wheat produces gametes with 21 chromosomes. Conceptually, wheat contains three versions of everything it needs to get by.