SDS-PAGE was used to analyze the hordein polypeptide patterns of Brazilian barley varieties (Hordeum vulgare L.) and of two native species of Hordeum from southern Brazil (H. euclaston Steud. and H. stenostachys Godr.). Forty different hordein polypeptide bands with molecular weights ranging from 30 to 94 kDa were found in the seeds of the three species studied. Twelve of the 14 varieties examined showed intravarietal polymorphism. The number of bands ranged from 10 to 17, depending on the variety, and from 3 to 13 among individual seeds, with a total of 26 bands in H. vulgare. Phenograms using each seed as an operational taxonomic unit (OTU) showed that the seeds from most varieties did not form distinct clusters. Seeds from different plants of the native species varied considerably. The molecular weights of the hordein polypeptides of the two native species were quite different from those of H. vulgare. There was a greater similarity between the native species than with H. vulgare, although H. stenostachys was slightly closer to the cultivated species than H. euclaston.

-Since there is evidence that malting quality is related to the storage protein (hordein) fraction, in the present work the hordein polypeptide patterns from 13 barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) varieties of different malting quality were analysed in order to explore the feasibility of using hordein electrophoresis to assist in the selection of malting barleys. The formation of clusters separating the varieties with higher malting quality from the others with lower quality suggests that there is a relationship between the general hordein polypeptide pattern and malting quality in the varieties analysed. By the Sperman's correlation test three hordein bands correlated negatively with malting quality in the germplasm studied.Index terms: Hordeum vulgare, storage proteins, electrophoresis. Padrões de polipeptídios de hordeína em relação à qualidade de malteação em variedades brasileiras de cevadaResumo -No presente trabalho foi analisado o padrão de polipeptídios de hordeína de 13 variedades de cevada (Hordeum vulgare L.) que apresentam diferentes qualidades de malteação, com o objetivo de verificar a viabilidade de se usar eletroforese de hordeínas na seleção de cevadas usadas para malteação. A formação de agrupamentos separando as variedades que apresentam altos níveis de malteação daquelas com baixa qualidade sugere haver uma clara associação entre a qualidade de malteação e os padrões de hordeína, pelo menos com relação às variedades analisadas. Pelo teste de correlação de Sperman, três bandas apresentaram correlação negativa com a qualidade de malteação.Termos para indexação: Hordeum vulgare, proteínas de reserva, eletroforese.