A set of 114 recombinant inbred lines of the 'International Triticeae Mapping Initiative' mapping population was grown during the seasons 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 under several environments. Twenty morphological (glume colour, awn colour, waxiness, leaf erectness, peduncle length), agronomical (ear emergence time, flowering time, grain filling time, ear length, plant height, lodging, grain number, thousand-grain-weight, grain weight per ear, grain protein content, winter hardiness) and disease resistance (powdery mildew, yellow rust, leaf rust, fusarium) traits were studied. Not all traits were scored in each experiment. In total 210 QTLs with a LOD threshold of >2.0 (minor QTLs) were detected of which 64 reached a LOD score of >3.0 (major QTLs). Often QTLs were detected in comparable positions in different experiments. Homologous and homoeologous relationships of the detected QTLs, and already described major genes or QTLs determining the same traits in wheat or other Triticeae members, are discussed.

Four sets of near-isogenic lines carrying different combinations of the alleles Rht-B1b, Rht-D1b and Rht-B1c for gibberellin-insensitive dwarfism in hexaploid wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) were compared with tall controls in a series of yield trials in eastern England and central Germany. In all four varietal backgrounds the effects of Rht-B1b and Rht-D1b were similar (plant height ≈ 86 and 83% of tall controls respectively) and in combination reduced plant height to c. 58%. The Rht-B1c allele caused more severe dwarfism (c. 50%) and, when combined with Rht-D1b, reduced plant height still further to c. 41%.Data from the trials were consistent with a model for height/yield relationships in which the pleiotropic effects of the Rht alleles on yield can be inferred from their primary function: insensitivity to gibberellin limits stem extension growth, decreasing assimilate demand for this organ and diverting it to the developing ear (which is not itself dwarfed). The net balance between the resulting increase in harvest index and the curvilinear relationship observed between plant height and total shoot yield results in optimum grain yields at intermediate plant heights.Yield advantages of shorter plants over tall controls were evident over several trials with mean grain yields ranging from 200 to 760 g m−2. The optimum plant height for yield improvement in different genetic backgrounds was achieved by different Rht alleles according to the background varietal height, such that intrinsically taller genotypes required more potent Rht alleles to achieve maximum potential grain yield.Ear yield components showed increases in grain number due to Rht pleiotropy, from which it is inferred that the number of grains per ear is limited by supply of assimilates pre-anthesis. Increases in grain number were associated with decreases in mean weight per grain which varied according to severity of dwarfism and varietal background, so that the net effect on grain yield per ear was sometimes positive, sometimes negative, and sometimes neutral in different Rht/variety combinations.

Genebanks hold comprehensive collections of cultivars, landraces and crop wild relatives of all major food crops, but their detailed characterization has so far been limited to sparse core sets. The analysis of genome-wide genotyping-by-sequencing data for almost all barley accessions of the German ex situ genebank provides insights into the global population structure of domesticated barley and points out redundancies and coverage gaps in one of the world's major genebanks. Our large sample size and dense marker data afford great power for genome-wide association scans. We detect known and novel loci underlying morphological traits differentiating barley genepools, find evidence for convergent selection for barbless awns in barley and rice and show that a major-effect resistance locus conferring resistance to bymovirus infection has been favored by traditional farmers. This study outlines future directions for genomics-assisted genebank management and the utilization of germplasm collections for linking natural variation to human selection during crop evolution.

The potential of microsatellite sequences as genetic markers in hexaploid wheat (Triticum aestivum) was investigated with respect to their abundance, variability, chromosomal location and usefulness in related species. By screening a lambda phage library, the total number of (GA)n blocks was estimated to be 3.6 x 10(4) and the number of (GT)n blocks to be 2.3 x 10(4) per haploid wheat genome. This results in an average distance of approximately 270 kb between these two microsatellite types combined. Based on sequence analysis data from 70 isolated microsatellites, it was found that wheat microsatellites are relatively long containing up to 40 dinucleotide repeats. Of the tested primer pairs, 36% resulted in fragments with a size corresponding to the expected length of the sequenced microsatellite clone. The variability of 15 microsatellite markers was investigated on 18 wheat accessions. Significantly, more variation was detected with the microsatellite markers than with RFLP markers with, on average, 4.6 different alleles per microsatellite. The 15 PCR-amplified microsatellites were further localized on chromosome arms using cytogenetic stocks of Chinese Spring. Finally, the primers for the 15 wheat microsatellites were used for PCR amplification with rye (Secale cereale) and barley accessions (Hordeum vulgare, H. spontaneum). Amplified fragments were observed for ten primer pairs with barley DNA and for nine primer pairs with rye DNA as template. A microsatellite was found by dot blot analysis in the PCR products of barley and rye DNA for only one primer pair.

Climate change is a major threat to most of the agricultural crops grown in tropical and sub-tropical areas globally. Drought stress is one of the consequences of climate change that has a negative impact on crop growth and yield. In the past, many simulation models were proposed to predict climate change and drought occurrences, and it is extremely important to improve essential crops to meet the challenges of drought stress which limits crop productivity and production. Wheat and barley are among the most common and widely used crops due to their economic and social values. Many parts of the world depend on these two crops for food and feed, and both crops are vulnerable to drought stress. Improving drought stress tolerance is a very challenging task for wheat and barley researchers and more research is needed to better understand this stress. The progress made in understanding drought tolerance is due to advances in three main research areas: physiology, breeding, and genetic research. The physiology research focused on the physiological and biochemical metabolic pathways that plants use when exposed to drought stress. New wheat and barley genotypes having a high degree of drought tolerance are produced through breeding by making crosses from promising drought-tolerant genotypes and selecting among their progeny. Also, identifying genes contributing to drought tolerance is very important. Previous studies showed that drought tolerance is a polygenic trait and genetic constitution will help to dissect the gene network(s) controlling drought tolerance. This review explores the recent advances in these three research areas to improve drought tolerance in wheat and barley.

A set of 24 wheat microsatellite markers, representing at least one marker from each chromosome, was used for the assessment of genetic diversity in 998 accessions of hexaploid bread wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) which originated from 68 countries of five continents. A total of 470 alleles were detected with an average allele number of 18.1 per locus. The highest number of alleles per locus was detected in the B genome with 19.9, compared to 17.4 and 16.5 for genomes A and D, respectively. The lowest allele number per locus among the seven homoeologous groups was observed in group 4. Greater genetic variation exists in the non-centromeric regions than in the centromeric regions of chromosomes. Allele numbers increased with the repeat number of the microsatellites used and their relative distance from the centromere, and was not dependent on the motif of microsatellites. Gene diversity was correlated with the number of alleles. Gene diversity according to Nei for the 26 microsatellite loci varied from 0.43 to 0.94 with an average of 0.77, and was 0.78, 0.81 and 0.73 for three genomes A, B and D, respectively. Alleles for each locus were present in regular two or three base-pair steps, indicating that the genetic variation during the wheat evolution occurred step by step in a continuous manner. In most cases, allele frequencies showed a normal distribution. Comparative analysis of microsatellite diversity among the eight geographical regions revealed that the accessions from the Near East and the Middle East exhibited more genetic diversity than those from the other regions. Greater diversity was found in Southeast Europe than in North and Southwest Europe. The present study also indicates that microsatellite markers permit the fast and high throughput fingerprinting of large numbers of accessions from a germplasm collection in order to assess genetic diversity.

Association-based trait mapping is an innovative methodology based on linkage disequilibrium. Studies in plants, especially in cereals, are rare. A genome-wide association study of wheat is reported, in which a large number of diversity array technology markers was used to genotype a winter wheat core collection of 96 accessions. The germplasm was structured into two sub-populations. Twenty agronomic traits were measured in field trials conducted over up to eight growing seasons. Association analysis was performed with two different approaches, the general linear model incorporating the Q-matrix only and the mixed linear model including also the kinship-matrix. In total, 385 marker-trait associations significant in both models were detected. The intrachromosomal location of many of these coincided with those of known major genes or quantitative trait loci, but others were detected in regions where no known genes have been located to date. These latter presumptive loci provide opportunities for further wheat improvement, based on a marker approach.

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