Winter Barley Breeding Research Articles

Freezing tolerance and tolerance to de-acclimation of European accessions of winter and facultative barley

Due to global warming, winter hardiness may seem to become less important for plant survival and yield. However, this is a superficial assumption, as probably only the most important factors locally affecting plant overwintering will change. For example, the frequency, degree, and length of extreme winter warming events may increase, leading to de-acclimation of plants. This study aimed to investigate existing variability in de-acclimation tolerance in Polish winter barley breeding materials and European winter and facultative barley cultivars, and to identify accessions with the highest and the lowest tolerance to de-acclimation by means of visual estimation of regrowth after freezing, measurements of electrolyte leakage and chlorophyll fluorescence, and LT50 assessment. The results of this study showed that freezing tolerance and tolerance to de-acclimation are independent traits, and even highly freezing tolerant plants can be susceptible to de-acclimation. Our results highlight the role of photosynthetic apparatus in de-acclimation, proving that chlorophyll fluorescence parameters, especially ET0/CS, can be useful indicators of tolerance to de-acclimation. This study also confirmed that although the mechanisms of response to de-acclimation seem to be common for susceptible barley accessions, the mechanisms of tolerance are different, and may be related to the accession’s origin.

Retrospective of barley breeding in the FSBSI “ARC “Donskoy”

The current paper has presented a historical excursion and an overview of scientific research on breeding and seed production of winter and spring barley in the Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution Agricultural Research Center “Donskoy”. The Southern Federal District includes 8 subjects of the Russian Federation, namely Sevastopol; republics of Adygea, Kalmykia, Crimea; Krasnodar Territory, Astrakhan, Volgograd and Rostov regions. Barley is the main grain forage crop in terms of sown area. Don farmers have long shown interest in this valuable, diverse crop, very unpretentious to the cultivation conditions. Barley breeding work began in our institution in 1932 and is still ongoing, with short interruptions, to the present. Research was carried out in various areas: breeding of winter, spring and facultative barley, seed production and technology of their cultivation. In the XXI-st century, the researchers of the barley department developed new innovative directions in barley breeding, there were developed two-row brewing varieties with high malting rates (the variety ‘Randevu’) in winter barley breeding and in spring barley breeding there were developed fodder barley (green fodder) varieties (the variety ‘Novik’), which were previously absent in the State List of the Russian Federation. In 2014 there were opened new directions in the department, namely the development of hulles spring barley varieties and awnless winter barley varieties. Since 2016, there has been carried out an active work to identify winter barley lines that are genetically resistant to net blotch. Together with the All-Russian Research Institute of Radiology and Agroecology, there was carried out an estimation of the radiosensitivity of winter and spring barley varieties to identify varieties being resistant to the environmental stress factors. Based on research materials, there were successfully defended 11 candidate and two doctoral dissertations, there were published eight monographs and more than 400 scientific articles.

Estimation of winter barley varieties according to productivity and adaptability indicators in the conditions of the Lower Don

Currently winter barley breeding is aimed at developing high-yielding varieties that are adaptive to the challenges of nature. In addition to the characteristics of the variety and environmental conditions, productivity is greatly influenced by a forecrop. The purpose of the current study was to determine the adaptive properties of winter barley varieties according to productivity and adaptability indicators in the conditions of the Lower Don. In order to study this issue, in 2020–2022 there was carried out a study to estimate the adaptability parameters of 20 winter barley varieties developed by the FSBSI “ARC “Donskoy” according to various forecrops (black fallow, peas, sunflower). The plot area was 10 m2, with 4 repetitions and seeding rate of 450 germ.seed/m2. In order to determine indicators of homeostaticity (Hom), breeding value (Sc), stress resistance (Ymin–Ymax) and genetic flexibility ((Ymax+Ymin)/2), coefficient of responsiveness to favorable growing conditions (Kp) and index of variety stability level (VSL) there were applied the methods of V. V. Khangildin and N. A. Litvinenko, A. A. Rosielle and J. Hamblina, V. A. Zykin, E. D. Nettevich. The conducted analysis has shown that on average over the years of study for all forecrops, the largest productivity was given by such varieties as ‘Marusya’, ‘Step’, ‘Pallidum 2100’. Also, for all forecrops, there have been identified the varieties characterized with high parameters of environmental adaptability and stability. The stable varieties were ‘Parallelum 2016’ and ‘Parallelum 2017’, which could be recommended for use in the breeding process as sources of high stress resistance, genotype value, and low variability of productivity. The varieties ‘Marusya’, ‘Step’ and ‘Pallidum 2100’ belong to the adaptable group, the productivity dynamics of these varieties corresponded to changes in growing conditions, and in order to obtain maximum productivity, there has been recommended to cultivate them after intensive forecrops.

Results of the development of the integrated evaluation of the winter barley breeding identifiers

Comparative analysis of the created breeding samples is essentially a multi-criteria task, since they are evaluated by dozens of features (identifiers). So, wheat has 66, barley – 63, peas – 88, sorghum – 49, corn – 63, etc. The purpose of the study is to develop a methodology for a comprehensive assessment of features (identifiers) of winter barley breeding. The object of research is a statistical array of rank values of identifiers based on the results of their expert evaluation. A rank assessment was made of 27 winter barley identifiers, which form the basis of the variety passport and reflect morphological descriptors of traits, biological properties, disease resistance, yield, crop structure, chemical composition, technological qualities of the main product, and economic use. As a result of structuring the totality of statistical material, 14 significant and 8 insignificant features were identified, forming 69% and 25% of the identifier, respectively, in terms of rank weight. A scale of 100 points was established for the reference sample of the winter barley variety (Timofey of the ARC Donskoy breeding) for significant (C) and a set of significant and unimportant identifiers (CMC). The complex indicator was calculated as the sum of points for compared varieties Zhiguli, Vivat, Yerema, Marusya of the ANC “Donskoy” selection, taking into account the weighted share of their respective characteristics in digitized form relative to the characteristics of the reference sample. It has been established that it is sufficient to carry out a comparative assessment of various varieties of winter barley by significant identifiers, since the discrepancy between numerical indicators for C and CMC identifiers did not exceed 2.36%.

Results of the development of the integrated evaluation of the winter barley breeding identifiers

Comparative analysis of the created breeding samples is essentially a multi-criteria task, since they are evaluated by dozens of features (identifiers). So, wheat has 66, barley – 63, peas – 88, sorghum – 49, corn – 63, etc. The purpose of the study is to develop a methodology for a comprehensive assessment of features (identifiers) of winter barley breeding. The object of research is a statistical array of rank values of identifiers based on the results of their expert evaluation. A rank assessment was made of 27 winter barley identifiers, which form the basis of the variety passport and reflect morphological descriptors of traits, biological properties, disease resistance, yield, crop structure, chemical composition, technological qualities of the main product, and economic use. As a result of structuring the totality of statistical material, 14 significant and 8 insignificant features were identified, forming 69% and 25% of the identifier, respectively, in terms of rank weight. A scale of 100 points was established for the reference sample of the winter barley variety (Timofey of the ARC Donskoy breeding) for significant (C) and a set of significant and unimportant identifiers (CMC). The complex indicator was calculated as the sum of points for compared varieties Zhiguli, Vivat, Yerema, Marusya of the ANC "Donskoy" selection, taking into account the weighted share of their respective characteristics in digitized form relative to the characteristics of the reference sample. It has been established that it is sufficient to carry out a comparative assessment of various varieties of winter barley by significant identifiers, since the discrepancy between numerical indicators for C and CMC identifiers did not exceed 2.36%.

Estimation of winter barley for resistance to leaf diseases

Barley production in the Rostov region, as well as throughout Russia, has taken its niche in agricultural production. Winter barley attracts farmers’ attention with its unpretentiousness and high productivity. The relevance of immunology used in the production of barley varieties does not decrease over time. Yield losses due to various leaf diseases can be as high as 30–50 %. The most common pathogens in the region are powdery mildew and helminthosporium blotches. The most effective and efficient way to improve the resistance of new varieties is the use of artificial infectious backgrounds. Provocative and extreme conditions promote a selection of parental forms and breeding lines that are most resistant to pathogens. The current paper has presented the results of the estimation of winter barley breeding and collection material based on the FSBSI Agricultural Research Center «Donskoy». The purpose of the study was to identify winter barley varieties and lines which are stably resistant and tolerant to leaf-stem pathogens common in the Rostov region. About 250 samples are being estimated in the period from 2019 to 2021. Over the years of study, there have been identified such varieties and lines resistant to powdery mildew as ‘Bezosty 1954’ (RF), ‘Grand’ (RF), ‘Parallelum 1967’, etc. Resistance to heliminthosporium spotting was demonstrated by the varieties ‘Bezosty 1954’ (RF), ‘Grand’ (RF), ‘Rostovsky 908’ (RF), ‘Donskoy 11’ (RF) and the lines ‘Parallelum 1967’, ‘Parallelum 1974’, ‘Pallidum 1916’, ‘Pallidum 1970’, ‘Parallelum 1960’, ‘Parallelum 1911’, ‘Nutans 1895’ and others. There were also identified such varieties with resistance or tolerance to both pathogens as ‘Grand’ (RF), ‘Sekret’ (RF), ‘Fox 1’ (RF), ‘Marusya’ (RF), ‘Karisma’ (England) and the lines ‘Bezosty 1954’, ‘Parallelum 1967’, ‘Parallelum 1974’, ‘Parallelum 2015’, ‘Parallelum 2016’, ‘Parallelum 2017’. All presented varieties and lines are proposed for use in further breeding for immunity to the studied pathogens.

Spring barley variety ‘Azimut’

Improvement of feed grain production is an important link in Russia’s food security. Considerable opportunities for solving this problem lie in the cultivation of new domestic varieties of barley. Breeding work in this direction has been carried out for a long time in the Don area by the FSBSI “ARC “Donskoy” (Department of winter and spring barley breeding and seed production). The purpose of the study was to breed a new spring barley variety for regions with high signs of aridy, which has fairly large productivity and its stability in different years. The result of the breeding program 0706-2019-0002 was the development of the spring barley variety ‘Azimut’ of universal use, i.e. for feed, groats and for brewing purposes. The paper has described the morphology of plants and the main biological and valuable economic traits of the new spring barley variety ‘Azimut’, which has been included in the State List of Breeding Achievements of Russia since 2022. There has been found that a remarkable feature of this variety is early maturity (through three contrast years (2017–2019) it ripened on average earlier than the standard variety ‘Ratnik’ on 4 days and the best variety ‘Format’ on 2 days), which is an extremely important indicator in modern climatic conditions. There was found that, on average, over the years, the new variety produced 5.7 t/ha and 52.0 g of 1000-grain weight, exceeding the standard on 0.8 t/ha and 6.5 g, as well as the best variety ‘Format’ on 0 .2 t/ha and 3.8 g, respectively. It has been established that the variety ‘Azimut’ has a certain important set of biologically useful and economically valuable properties and traits.

Novel resistance to the Bymovirus BaMMV established by targeted mutagenesis of the PDIL5-1 susceptibility gene in barley.

The Potyviridae are the largest family of plant-pathogenic viruses. Members of this family are the soil-borne bymoviruses barley yellow mosaic virus (BaYMV) and barley mild mosaic virus (BaMMV), which, upon infection of young winter barley seedlings in autumn, can cause yield losses as high as 50%. Resistance breeding plays a major role in coping with these pathogens. However, some viral strains have overcome the most widely used resistance. Thus, there is a need for novel sources of resistance. In ancient landraces and wild relatives of cultivated barley, alleles of the susceptibility factor PROTEIN DISULFIDE ISOMERASE LIKE 5-1 (PDIL5-1) were identified to confer resistance to all known strains of BaYMV and BaMMV. Although the gene is highly conserved throughout all eukaryotes, barley is thus far the only species for which PDIL5-1-based virus resistance has been reported. Whereas introgression by crossing to the European winter barley breeding pool is tedious, time-consuming and additionally associated with unwanted linkage drag, the present study exemplifies an approach to targeted mutagenesis of two barley cultivars employing CRISPR-associated endonuclease technology to induce site-directed mutations similar to those described for PDIL5-1 alleles that render certain landraces resistant. Homozygous primary mutants were produced in winter barley, and transgene-free homozygous M2 mutants were produced in spring barley. A variety of mutants carrying novel PDIL5-1 alleles were mechanically inoculated with BaMMV, by which all frameshift mutations and certain in-frame mutations were demonstrated to confer resistance to this virus. Under greenhouse conditions, virus-resistant mutants showed no adverse effects in terms of growth and yield.

Cold Conditioned: Discovery of Novel Alleles for Low-Temperature Tolerance in the Vavilov Barley Collection.

Climate changes leading to higher summer temperatures can adversely affect cool season crops like spring barley. In the Upper Midwest region of the United States, one option for escaping this stress factor is to plant winter or facultative type cultivars in the autumn and then harvest in early summer before the onset of high-temperature stress. However, the major challenge in breeding such cultivars is incorporating sufficient winter hardiness to survive the extremely low temperatures that commonly occur in this production region. To broaden the genetic base for winter hardiness in the University of Minnesota breeding program, 2,214 accessions from the N. I. Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry (VIR) were evaluated for winter survival (WS) in St. Paul, Minnesota. From this field trial, 267 (>12%) accessions survived [designated as the VIR-low-temperature tolerant (LTT) panel] and were subsequently evaluated for WS across six northern and central Great Plains states. The VIR-LTT panel was genotyped with the Illumina 9K SNP chip, and then a genome-wide association study was performed on seven WS datasets. Twelve significant associations for WS were identified, including the previously reported frost resistance gene FR-H2 as well as several novel ones. Multi-allelic haplotype analysis revealed the most favorable alleles for WS in the VIR-LTT panel as well as another recently studied panel (CAP-LTT). Seventy-eight accessions from the VIR-LTT panel exhibited a high and consistent level of WS and select ones are being used in winter barley breeding programs in the United States and in a multiparent population.

The Breeding of Winter-Hardy Malting Barley

In breeding winter malting barley, one recurring strategy is to cross a current preferred spring malting barley to a winter barley. This is because spring malting barleys have the greatest amalgamation of trait qualities desirable for malting and brewing. Spring barley breeding programs can also cycle their material through numerous generations each year—some managing even six—which greatly accelerates combining desirable alleles to generate new lines. In a winter barley breeding program, a single generation per year is the limit when the field environment is used and about two generations per year if vernalization and greenhouse facilities are used. However, crossing the current favored spring malting barley to a winter barley may have its downsides, as winter-hardiness too may be an amalgamation of desirable alleles assembled together that confers the capacity for prolonged cold temperature conditions. In this review I touch on some general criteria that give a variety the distinction of being a malting barley and some of the general trends made in the breeding of spring malting barleys. But the main objective of this review is to pull together different aspects of what we know about winter-hardiness from the seemingly most essential aspect, which is survival in the field, to molecular genetics and gene regulation, and then finish with ideas that might help further our insight for predictability purposes.

Implications of intra-seasonal climate variations on chlorophyll a fluorescence and biomass in winter barley breeding program

This study aimed to explore how ten selected winter barley genotypes responded to variations in environmental conditions during the growth season by using fast chlorophyll a fluorescence and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) at the booting, anthesis and early grain-filling stage. Lower amount of rainfall during the anthesis induced instability in the function of PSII, observed as the positive K-band in six and the positive L-band in seven genotypes. At grain filling, all genotypes displayed negative K- and L-bands, suggesting an increase of stability within PSII. The performance index increased from booting to grain filling in most genotypes. Chlorophyll a fluorescence parameters were incorporated into the partial least squares model as explanatory variables of NDVI. After a cross-validation, the model with four latent variables was chosen explaining 75.8% variance (r = 0.870) for NDVI. The principal component analyses showed two distinct types of the reaction of the barley genotypes to the mild drought stress at anthesis.

The results of cooperation between FSBSI “ARC “Donskoy” and FSBSI “NCG named after P.P. Lukiyanenko” in winter barley breeding

Barley is the main grain feed crop in the Russian Federation. In the Southern Federal District, winter barley breeding tends to be carried out in the Rostov Region and Krasnodar Area. The current paper has presented the results of joint work on winter barley breeding of the FSBSI “Agricultural Research Center “Donskoy” and the FSBSI “National Center of Grain named after P. P. Lukiya-nenko”. The purpose of the study was to develop winter barley varieties using the initial material of local and Krasnodar breeding. The varieties developed by scientists from these research institutions occupy a leading place in the structure of sown areas in the south of the country. The Zernograd scientists' participation in the hybridization of Krasnodar varieties has resulted in the development of the varieties “Rostovsky 55”, “Timofey”, “Erema”, “Vivat”, “Foks 1”. In 2016 a new facultative barley variety “Marusya” was sent to the State Variety Testing. For the scientists of the National Center of Grain named after P. P. Lukiyanenko the varieties of “Donskoy”, which have been bred in a more northern region, are of certain interest, since they have a fairly high level of frost and winter tolerance and other traits of adaptability. Thus, the variety “Larets”, developed by the ARC “Donskoy” was included in the program for deepening the tillering node by the Krasnodar breeders.

Statistical and graphical (GGE biplot) evaluation of the adaptive ability and stability of winter barley breeding lines

Due to current global climate changes, the issue of improving adaptive capacity of crops is of high importance. It is important to create winter crop varieties with both ecological adaptability and yield stability in years with different hydrothermal conditions. In order to develop winter barley varieties with a combination of yield and stability, 14 promising breeding lines have been evaluated in the conditions of the V.M. Remeslo Myronovka Institute of Wheat of NAAS of Ukraine in 2012/2013–2014/2015 using four different sowing dates. The ANOVA revealed a reliable part in yield variation: 64.59 % for environment, 16.84 % for genotype–environment interaction, and 15.57 % for genotype. The sowing dates significantly increased the yield variation of the breeding lines. The differences between the average yields of the lines depending on sowing date within the year were 1.05 t/ha in 2012/2013, 0.90 t/ha in 2013/2014, and 1.25 t/ha in 2014/2015. For genotype–environment interaction interpretation and ranking lines by yield a number of the most known statistical parameters of adaptability, stability, and plasticity and GGE biplot were applied. The use of different sowing dates at the final stage of the winter barley breeding process is a simple but effective approach that allows a more detailed assessment of the adaptive potential of breeding lines in various growing conditions. As compared to statistical parameters, GGE biplot has some advantages for interpretation of genotype–environment interaction. This graphic model allows ranking environments to be visualized for their discriminating ability and representativeness, as well as both specifically adapted genotypes and the ones with the optimal combination of yield potential and stability to be identified in a set of environments (mega-environment). The breeding line Pallidum 4816 with the optimal combination of yield and stability, as well as the high-yielding breeding lines Pallidum 4857 and Pallidum 4659 were identified and submitted to the State Variety Testing of Ukraine as the new winter barley varieties MIP Yason, MIP Oskar and MIP Hladiator.

GENETIC DIVERSITY IN SODIUM AZIDE-INDUCED BARLEY MUTANT LINES

The aim of this study was to assess the diversity among sodium azide-induced mutants of winter 2-rowed barley for 8 quantitative traits of by multivariate analyses. Forty-seven mutant lines and their parental varieties Kuber, Zagorets, Asparuh, and Imeon were tested in complete block design with four replications. The studied traits included spike length, awn length, peduncle length, spikelet and grain number per spike, grain weight per spike, 1000 grain weight and grain yield. Principal component and cluster analyses were used for the assessment of mutants. Traits spike length, spikelet number per a spike, grain number per spike and grain weight per spike had the largest contribution to the divergence between mutants. The cluster and principal component analyses employed in the present study divided the mutant lines into different groups, which were deviated significantly from the respective parents. Diverse mutant lines with improved yield-related traits suitable for including in winter barley breeding program were identified.

Ecological and genetic aspects of winter barley breeding under increasing of productive and adaptive capacity in the Forest-Steppe of Ukraine

Resulted from long-term experimental research of ecological and genetic aspects of winter barley breeding for increase of productive and adaptive capacity at the V.M. Remeslo Myronivka Institute of Wheat of NAAS are substantiated. System approach to evaluation and selection of genotypes for productivity and resistance (tolerance) to abiotic and biotic factors in the Forest-Steppe of Ukraine has been implemented in practical breeding. Collection of winter barley which includes 568 accessions of different ecological and geographical origin has been formed. Based on adapted varieties, breeding lines, and identified source of valuable traits novel genetic material has been created at all links of breeding process. Seven winter barley varieties, namely MIP Hladiator, MIP Yason, MIP Oskar, MIP Korsar, MIP Darii, MIP LIDER, MIP Status have been created and submitted to the State Strain Testing for 2012–2016

Genomic prediction ability for yield-related traits in German winter barley elite material.

Genomic prediction was evaluated in German winter barley breeding lines. In this material, prediction ability is strongly influenced by population structure and main determinant of prediction ability is the close genetic relatedness of the breeding material. To ensure breeding progress under changing environmental conditions the implementation and evaluation of new breeding methods is of crucial importance. Modern breeding approaches like genomic selection may significantly accelerate breeding progress. We assessed the potential of genomic prediction in a training population of 750 genotypes, consisting of multiple six-rowed winter barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) elite material families and old cultivars, which reflect the breeding history of barley in Germany. Crosses of parents selected from the training set were used to create a set of double-haploid families consisting of 750 genotypes. Those were used to confirm prediction ability estimates based on a cross-validation with the training set material using 11 different genomic prediction models. Population structure was inferred with dimensionality reduction methods like discriminant analysis of principle components and the influence of population structure on prediction ability was investigated. In addition to the size of the training set, marker density is of crucial importance for genomic prediction. We used genome-wide linkage disequilibrium and persistence of linkage phase as indicators to estimate that 11,203 evenly spaced markers are required to capture all QTL effects. Although a 9k SNP array does not contain a sufficient number of polymorphic markers for long-term genomic selection, we obtained fairly high prediction accuracies ranging from 0.31 to 0.71 for the traits earing, hectoliter weight, spikes per square meter, thousand kernel weight and yield and show that they result from the close genetic relatedness of the material. Our work contributes to designing long-term genetic prediction programs for barley breeding.

西藏冬青稞种质资源的SSR标记遗传多样性分析

为了明确西藏冬青稞种质资源的遗传多样性，并为冬青稞育种提供依据，利用分布于青稞7条染色体上的32对SSR引物对来自西藏的94份冬青稞材料的遗传多样性进行了分析。结果表明，32对引物共检测出115条多态性条带，平均每对引物扩增出3.6条多态性带，表明西藏冬青稞种质资源遗传基础较广，蕴藏着多种不同的等位基因，具有丰富的遗传多样性。聚类分析将材料分为六组，材料的来源于所研究的SSR引物位点相关性状具有独立性，基于SSR多态性的聚类与材料来源地区无相关性。 In order to clarify the genetic diversity of the Tibetan winter barley germplasm resources, and provide bases for winter barley breeding, genetic diversity of 94 winter barley samples collected from Tibet were analyzed, based on the 32 pairs of SSR primers distributed in 7 chromosomes of barley. The results showed that, 115 polymorphic bands were detected from 32 pairs of primers totally, and in an average, every pair of primers had been amplified to be 3.6 polymorphic bands, which indicated that, the genetic basis of Tibet winter barley germplasm was wide, and multi different alleles existed, who owned a wealth of genetic diversities. Cluster analysis divided materials into six groups, and the sources of materials were independent to the related traits of SSR primer loci for study. There were no correlations between the source regions of materials and the clusters based on SSR polymorphism.

Main directions and tasks in winter barley breeding in Central Forest-Steppe of Ukraine

Purpose. To determine the main directions and tasks of winter barley breeding in the Central Forest-Steppe of Ukraine.Methods. Field, laboratory, analytical, statistical.Results. There is insufficient amount of scientific publications in recent years with regard to elaboration and extending theoretical principles of winter barley breeding under conditions of climatic changes in Ukraine, especially in the Forest-Steppe. Based on our data of many years of experimental research (2003/04–2015/16) confirmed by the world scientific achievements the main directions and tasks are assigned to be the priority of winter barley breeding in the Central Forest-Steppe of Ukraine. There were argued the necessity of purposeful creation of varieties feature various intensity and purpose of use with appropriate quality parameters: for livestock feeding, malt and food industries. The main factors are identified to have stronger impact on winter barley yielding capacity in recent years. These are wintering conditions, uneven distribution of rainfall, higher temperatures, lodging, and affection with complex of pathogens.Conclusion. It is necessary to elaborate theoretical bases of winter barley breeding for individual programs according to the purpose of use: feed, food and malt. Within the purpose of use mentioned above both intensive and universal varieties should be developed. Generally, winter barley varieties in the Forest-Steppe of Ukraine should meet high yielding capacity and stability, winter-hardiness, drought and heat tolerance, lodging resistance, resistance against powdery mildew, stripe blotch, spot blotch, net blotch, and dwarf leaf rust.

Production of Ethanol From Newly Developed and Improved Winter Barley Cultivars.

Winter barley has attracted strong interest as a potential feedstock for fuel ethanol production in regions with mild winter climate such as the mid-Atlantic and northeastern USA. Ten recently developed and improved winter barley cultivars and breeding lines including five hulled and five hull-less lines were experimentally evaluated for potential ethanol production. The five hulled barley lines included three released cultivars (Thoroughbred, Atlantic, and Secretariat) and two breeding lines (VA09B-34 and VA11B-4). The five hull-less lines also included three released cultivars (Eve, Dan, and Amaze 10) and two breeding lines (VA08H-65 and VA13H-34). On the average, the hull-less barley cultivars produced more ethanol per unit mass because of their higher starch and β-glucan contents. However, since the hulled barley cultivars had higher agronomic yield, the potential ethanol production per acre of land for the two types were approximately equal. Among the ten cultivars tested, the hull-less cultivar Amaze 10 was the best one for ethanol production. The ethanol yield values obtained for this cultivar were 2.61gal per bushel and 292gal per acre.

Optimization of approaches to the determination of frost resistance of winter barley breeding material

Optimization of approaches to the determination of frost resistance of winter barley breeding material