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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Aberdeen, Idaho » Small Grains and Potato Germplasm Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #76283
Title: DNA VARIATION AND GENETIC RELATIONSHIPS AMONG HULLESS BARLEY ACCESSIONS AS DETECTED BY RANDOM AMPLIFIED POLYMORPHIC DNA (RAPD)

Author
item Hang, An
item Hoffman, David
item Burton, Charlotte

Submitted to: Journal of Genetics and Breeding
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/8/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Hulless or naked barley has hulls that do not stay on the seed at harvest. Although it is predominantly found in Central Asia, other areas of the world are interested in hulless barley as human food and animal feed because of its good nutritional properties. To develop high yielding and good quality hulless barley varieties, it would be helpful to know something about the genetic diversity that exists among genetic stocks. To achieve this goal, many stocks of hulless barley from diverse origins were chosen. A technique that detects DNA differences among the barley stocks was used. Stocks from North America were generally found to be more related to each other than to stocks from Asia and the Middle East. Stocks from Asia and the Middle East tended to be more diverse when compared with each other than the North American stocks compared with each other. These results indicate that stocks from Asia and the Middle East may be valuable sources of genetic diversity for the enhancement of hulles barleys in North America.

Technical Abstract: Thirty-six hulless barley accessions from North America, China, Turkey, and Central Asia were analyzed using the randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique. Forty-seven major reproducible fragments were produced with nine primers. DNA variation in fragment patterns was observed between accessions in eight primers studied. Cluster analysis of genetic similarities among accessions revealed that most of the accessions from North America are closely related and belong to one well-defined cluster. Based on their genetic similarities, those from China, Turkey, Central Asia, and one cultivar from North America belong to another group that can be divided into three sub-clusters. RAPD markers, therefore, can be used to estimate genetic similarity among hulless barley accessions.