By means of thin-layer chromatography, 1424 local varieties of barley were investigated. Two collections of Hordeum spontaneum and one of H. agriocrithon were also analysed. In H . vulgare three distinctly different flavonoid patterns were found, designated A, B and C. The B pattern could be divided into two types: B1 and Bz. The flavonoid pattern of H. spontaneum deviates sharply from those of H. vulgare. Hordeum agriocrithon has the same flavonoid pattern as the A pattern in H. vulgare. The flavonoid patterns A and B occur throughout the cultivated area of H . vulgare. However, differences in frequency between the A and B patterns were revealed when different areas were compared. Flavonoid pattern C is, with a few exceptions, found only in varieties of barley from Ethiopia. Controlled crossing experiments between the different flavonoid types of H. vulgare were performed on a limited scale. The phylogeny of H . vulgare in relation to H. spontaneum and H. agriocrithon is discussed. The flavone glycosides that constitute these differences are briefly reviewed.
Sune Frcst, Institute of Genetics, S-223 62 Lund, Sweden
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