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ARS Home » Plains Area » Manhattan, Kansas » Center for Grain and Animal Health Research » Hard Winter Wheat Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #407343
Research Project: Genetic Improvement of Biotic and Abiotic Stress Tolerance and Nutritional Quality in Hard Winter Wheat

Location: Hard Winter Wheat Genetics Research

Title: Genetic characterization of root architectural traits in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) using SNP markers

Author
item FAROOQI, MQU - University Of Western Australia
item MOODY, D - Intergrain Pty Ltd
item Bai, Guihua
item Bernardo, Amy
item St Amand, Paul
item DIGGLE, AJ - Department Of Primary Industries
item RENGEL, ZED - University Of Western Australia

Submitted to: Frontiers in Plant Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/5/2023
Publication Date: 10/4/2023
Citation: Farooqi, M., Moody, D., Bai, G., Bernardo, A.E., St Amand, P.C., Diggle, A., Rengel, Z. 2023. Genetic characterization of root architectural traits in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) using SNP markers. Frontiers in Plant Science. 14:1265925. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2023.1265925.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2023.1265925

Interpretive Summary: Barley root traits are important traits for development of barley cultivars for growing in low-fertility, drying soils. We studies a panel of 191 barley accessions from Australia, Europe, and Africa for 26 root and shoot traits using the semi-hydroponic system next-generation sequencing based markers, and identified 37 putative QTLs for the root traits, and three QTLs for shoot traits, with nine QTLs showing effects on multiple traits. The QTL on chromosome 7H affects five root length-related traits. The putative QTLs identified in this study can be useful for genetic improvement of the adaptation of new barley cultivars to suboptimal environments and abiotic stresses.

Technical Abstract: Increasing attention is paid to providing new tools to breeders for targeted breeding for specific root traits that are beneficial in low-fertility, drying soils; however, such information is not available for barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). A panel of 191 barley accessions (originating from Australia, Europe, and Africa) was phenotyped for 26 root and shoot traits using the established semi-hydroponic system and genotyped using 21,062 high-quality single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers generated by genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS). The population structure analysis of the panel identified six distinct groups. We identified 1,199 significant (P <0.001) MTAs with the strongest MTAs for root diameter in the top 20 cm and the longest root length. Based on the physical locations of these MTAs in the barley reference genome, we identified 37 putative QTLs for the root traits, and three QTLs for shoot traits, with nine QTLs located in the same physical regions. The genomic region 640-653 Mb on chromosome 7H was significant for five root length-related traits, where 440 annotated genes were located. The putative QTLs for various root traits identified in this study can be useful for genetic improvement regarding the adaptation of new barley cultivars to suboptimal environments and abiotic stresses.