Hybridisation-based target enrichment of phenology genes to dissect the genetic basis of yield and adaptation in barley

Camilla Beate Hill, Tefera Tolera Angessa, Lee-Anne McFawn, Debbie Wong, Josquin Tibbits, Xiao-Qi Zhang, Kerrie Forrest, David Moody, Paul Telfer, Sharon Westcott, Dean Diepeveen, Yanhao Xu (+3 others)
2018 Plant Biotechnology Journal  
Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is a major cereal grain widely used for livestock feed, brewing malts and human food. Grain yield is the most important breeding target for genetic improvement and largely depends on optimal timing of flowering. Little is known about the allelic diversity of genes that underlie flowering time in domesticated barley, the genetic changes that have occurred during breeding, and their impact on yield and adaptation. Here we report a comprehensive genomic assessment of a
more » ... orldwide collection of 895 barley accessions based on the targeted resequencing of phenology genes. A versatile target-capture method was used to detect genome-wide polymorphisms in a panel of 174 flowering timerelated genes, chosen based on prior knowledge from barley, rice, and Arabidopsis thaliana. Association studies identified novel polymorphisms that accounted for observed phenotypic variation in phenology and grain yield, and explained improvements in adaptation as a result of historical breeding of Australian barley cultivars. We found that 50% of genetic variants associated with grain yield, and 67% of the plant height variation was also associated with Accepted Article This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. phenology. The precise identification of favourable alleles provides a genomic basis to improve barley yield traits and to enhance adaptation for specific production areas.
doi:10.1111/pbi.13029 pmid:30407713 fatcat:rk5fmrw255dhvc3qtsmj4jqczi