New loci and candidate genes in spring two-rowed barley detected through meta-analysis of a field trial European network.

A dense genome-wide meta-analysis provides new QTLs, reveals breeding history trends and identifies new candidate genes for yield, plant height, grain weight, and heading time of spring barley. This study contributes new knowledge on quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and candidate genes for adaptive traits and yield in two-rowed spring barley. A meta-analysis of a network of field trials, varying in latitude and sowing date, with 151 cultivars across several European countries, increased QTL detection power compared to single-trial analyses.

HISS: Snakemake-based workflows for performing SMRT-RenSeq assembly, AgRenSeq and dRenSeq for the discovery of novel plant disease resistance genes.

Background: In the ten years since the initial publication of the RenSeq protocol, the method has proved to be a powerful tool for studying disease resistance in plants and providing target genes for breeding programmes. Since the initial publication of the methodology, it has continued to be developed as new technologies have become available and the increased availability of computing power has made new bioinformatic approaches possible. Most recently, this has included the development of a k-mer based association genetics approach, the use of PacBio HiFi data, and graphical genotyping with diagnostic RenSeq.

The evolutionary patterns of barley pericentromeric chromosome regions, as shaped by linkage disequilibrium and domestication.

The distribution of recombination events along large cereal chromosomes is uneven and is generally restricted to gene-rich telomeric ends. To understand how the lack of recombination affects diversity in the large pericentromeric regions, we analysed deep exome capture data from a final panel of 815 Hordeum vulgare (barley) cultivars, landraces and wild barleys, sampled from across their eco-geographical ranges. We defined and compared variant data across the pericentromeric and non-pericentromeric regions, observing a clear partitioning of diversity both within and between chromosomes and germplasm groups.

Characterisation of barley landraces from Syria and Jordan for resistance to rhynchosporium and identification of diagnostic markers for Rrs1.

Diagnostic markers for Rrs1 have been identified by testing for associations between SNPs within the Rrs1 interval in 150 barley genotypes and their resistance to Rhynchosporium commune isolates recognised by lines containing Rrs1. Rhynchosporium or barley scald, caused by the destructive fungal pathogen Rhynchosporium commune, is one of the most economically important diseases of barley in the world. Barley landraces from Syria and Jordan demonstrated high resistance to rhynchosporium in the field.

Development and Evaluation of a Barley 50k iSelect SNP Array.

High-throughput genotyping arrays continue to be an attractive, cost-effective alternative to sequencing based approaches. We have developed a new 50k Illumina Infinium iSelect genotyping array for barley, a cereal crop species of major international importance. The majority of SNPs on the array have been extracted from variants called in exome capture data of a wide range of European barley germplasm.