Tracking Changes in the Spring Barley Gene Pool in Poland during 120 Years of Breeding

Abstract

This study was undertaken to investigate the diversity and population structure of 83 spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) cultivars, which corresponded to 120 years of this crop’s breeding in Poland. The analysis was based on 11,655 DArTseq-derived SNPs evenly distributed across seven barley chromosomes. Five groups were assigned in the studied cultivars according to the period of their breeding. A decrease in observed heterozygosity within the groups was noted along with the progress in breeding, with a simultaneous increase in the inbreeding coefficient value. As a result of breeding, some of the unique allelic variation present in old cultivars was lost, but crosses with foreign materials also provided new alleles to the barley gene pool. It is important to mention that the above changes affected different chromosomes to varying degrees. The internal variability of the cultivars ranged from 0.011 to 0.236. Internal uniformity was lowest among the oldest cultivars, although some highly homogeneous ones were found among them. This is probably an effect of genetic drift or selection during their multiplications and regenerations in the period from breeding to the time of analysis. The population genetic structure of the studied group of cultivars appears to be quite complex. It was shown that their genetic makeup consists of as many as eleven distinct gene pools. The analysis also showed traces of directed selection on chromosomes 3H and 5H. Detailed data analysis confirmed the presence of duplicates for 11 cultivars. The performed research will allow both improvement of the management of barley genetic resources in the gene bank and the reuse of this rich and forgotten variability in breeding programs and research.

Utilizing Genomics to Characterize the Common Oat Gene Pool—The Story of More Than a Century of Polish Breeding

“…However, in the D sub-genome, the most abundant SNP was G > A. In the case of transversions, the most abundant SNP was C > G, except for the C sub-genome, where the most frequent change was G > C—yet, its frequency was comparable to C > G. Similar results have been obtained by DArTseq and GBS for barley [ 20 , 45 ] and wheat [ 45 ].…”

“…Marker distribution may reflect the overall protein-coding gene dispersal. This has been observed in studies on barley [ 20 , 39 ], wheat [ 40 , 41 ], and, to a lesser extent, rice [ 42 , 43 ]. In these species, the levels of recombination and marker frequency were suppressed near the centromere and increased in telomeric, gene-rich, euchromatic chromosome regions.…”

“…During the 120 year oat-breeding process, only 67 alleles from the old gene pool were lost and replaced by 67 new alleles, whereas, in Polish spring barley, the losses concern about 600 alleles that are preserved only due to the activity of the gene bank [ 20 ]. Interestingly, a significant part of the variability of old oat varieties has been preserved in foreign cultivars.…”

“…This technique has enabled the successful genetic diversity evaluation of many species, including Triticum aestivum [ 18 ], Allium sativum [ 19 ], Hordeum vulgare [ 20 , 21 ], and Solanum lycopersicum [ 22 ]. In this study, DArTseq-derived SNPs were used to genotype breeding lines from the ongoing programs of the three largest Polish breeding companies, along with modern and historical Polish and foreign cultivars to assess the genetic relatedness and population structure of Polish breeding materials.…”

Heritage genetics for adaptation to marginal soils in barley

“…Maximising grain yield remains the main breeding target for all cereal crops; however, there needs to be a transition to breeding crops for sustainability as current approaches are showing maladaptation to stress [1], including late-season heat and early-season frost, variability in water availability, nutrient deficiency, salinity, and toxic elements found in some marginal soils [2]. This is exacerbated by genetic erosion (see Glossary) seen through domestication per se [3] and the subsequent breeding process in many species, including barley [4]. Barley is currently the fourth-most-widely cultivated cereal and constitutes one of the major sources of global feed, food, and malt.…”