Whole-genome analysis with SNPs from BOPA1 shows clearly defined groupings of Western Mediterranean, Ethiopian, and Fertile Crescent barleys

29 Pags., 3 Tabls., 3 Figs, 2 Supplement. Mat. The definitive version is available at: http://link.springer.com/journal/10722The discovery of Hordeum spontaneum C. Koch, a wild ancestor of cultivated barley, in Morocco in 1978 led to the proposal of a multicentric origin for this crop, as an alternative to the widely accepted theory of a single centre of domestication in the Fertile Crescent. Since this discovery, we have tested this hypothesis using the most advanced genetic techniques available at the time, from CM-proteins to RFLP and DNA-chloroplast markers. Nowadays, the availability of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers that are spread densely over the barley genome provides us with another powerful tool to give further support for the above. We have used 1,536 SNPs from the Barley Oligo Pool Assay 1 (BOPA1) of Illumina to characterize 107 wild and cultivated barley accessions from the Western Mediterranean, Fertile Crescent, Ethiopia, and Tibet. The results have confirmed that each location of the above-mentioned germplasm groups clusters separately. Analysis of molecular variance enabled us to focus on the chromosomal regions and loci that differentiated these groups of barley germplasm. Some of these regions contain vernalization and photoperiod response genes, some of the so-called domestication genes, as well as the most important quantitative trait locus for flowering time in the Mediterranean region. We have combined these results with other genetic evidence, and interpreted them in the framework of current theories on the onset of the Neolithic revolution in the Mediterranean region, to conclude that neither Ethiopia nor the Western Mediterranean can be ruled out as centres of barley domestication, together with the Fertile Crescent.We want to thank INIA (MICINN) for partially funding this work through different grants. The Centre UdL-IRTA forms part of the Centre CONSOLIDER on Agrigenomics funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science and acknowledges partial funding from grant AGL2005-07195-C02-02. Genotyping of the RIL population with BOPA1 was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation; project GEN2006-28560-E. We acknowledge support of the publication fee by the CSIC Open Access Support Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI)Peer reviewe

Patterns of genetic and eco-geographical diversity in Spanish barleys

32 Pag., 5 Tabl., 4 Fig. The definitive version is available at: http://www.springerlink.com/content/0040-5752/The pool of Western Mediterranean landraces has been under-utilised for barley breeding so far. The objectives of this study were to assess genetic diversity in a core collection of inbred lines derived from Spanish barley landraces to establish its relationship to barleys from other origins, and to correlate the distribution of diversity with geographical and climatic factors. To this end, 64 SSR were used to evaluate the polymorphism among 225 barley (Hordeum vulgare ssp. vulgare) genotypes, comprising two-row and six-row types. These included 159 landraces from the Spanish barley core collection (SBCC) plus 66 cultivars, mainly from European countries, as a reference set. Out of the 669 alleles generated, a large proportion of them were unique to the six-row Spanish barleys. An analysis of molecular variance revealed a clear genetic divergence between the six-row Spanish barleys and the reference cultivars, whereas this was not evident for the two-row barleys. A model-based clustering analysis identified an underlying population structure, consisting of four main populations for the whole genotype set, and suggested further possible subdivision within two of these populations. Most of the six-row Spanish landraces clustered into two groups that corresponded to geographic regions with contrasting environmental conditions. The existence of wide genetic diversity in Spanish germplasm, possibly related to adaptation to a broad range of environmental conditions, and its divergence from current European cultivars confirm its potential as a new resource for barley breeders, and make the SBCC a valuable tool for the study of adaptation in barley.This research was funded by project RTA01-088-C3, granted by the Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentación (INIA), of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology, and co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund. Samia Yahiaoui was supported by a scholarship from the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional (AECI), of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Peer reviewe

Conocemos nuestra Comunidad Autónoma

Se diseña una experiencia de contacto directo con el medio social y natural para completar el estudio del entorno, básico en los programas renovados del ciclo medio, que se realiza en el aula. Pretende que el alumnado aprenda a obtener conocimientos mediante una metodología globalizada y a la vez sistemática, que tome conciencia de la realidad autonómica, que conozca paisajes difernetes a los de su comarca, que aprenda a respetar y defender la naturaleza, que observen y estudien diferentes formas de vida, trabajo, costumbres,etc, que aprendan a relacionar conocimientos adquiridos mediante la experiencia de trabajos de campo. Se realizan tres salidas en las que el alumnado recoge datos ayudado por guías de observación y trabajo. Con los materiales recogidos se elaboran trabajos que se exponen al público. Esta experiencia se vuelve a realizar en el curso 88-89.Madrid (Comunidad Autónoma). Consejería de Educación y CulturaMadridMadrid (Comunidad Autónoma). Subdirección General de Formación del Profesorado. CRIF Las Acacias; General Ricardos 179 - 28025 Madrid; Tel. + 34915250893ES

Marker-trait association for disease resistance in the Spanish barley core collection

5 Pag., 2 Tabl. In Molina Cano J.L. (ed.), Christou P. (ed.), Graner A. (ed.), Hammer K. (ed.), Jouve N. (ed.), Keller B. (ed.), Lasa J.M. (ed.), Powell W. (ed.), Royo C. (ed.), Shewry P. (ed.), Stanca A.M. (ed.) . Cereal science and technology for feeding ten billion people: genomics era and beyond . Zaragoza : CIHEAM-IAMZ / IRTA, 2008. p. 141-145 : 12 réf., 1 tabl. (Options Méditerranéennes : Série A. Séminaires Méditerranéens ; n. 81). Meeting of the Eucarpia Cereal Section, 2006/11/13-17, Lleida (Spain)There are abundant examples of the utility of landraces and wild relatives as potential sources of new genes and alleles for crop breeding. In crops like barley, the genetic variability of landraces was not fully exploited at the beginning of modern breeding. Linkage drag is one major issue when considering introgression from exotic sources. Introgression of new alleles into elite cultivars is done more effectively from landraces than from wild relatives, as they are genetically closer. For these reasons, barley landraces should be thoroughly mined for new genes or alleles. The Spanish Barley Core Collection (SBCC) was conceived as a resource for research, and was assembled as a representative sample of the genetic variability present in the collection of over 2000 accessions held at the National repository for plant genetic resources (CRF-INIA). The objective of this study was to carry out a preliminary survey of the potential of the SBCC as a source of disease resistance genes or alleles, and to assess the possibility of detecting disease resistance QTLs via association mapping. In a companion paper (Yahiaoui et al., this volume), we tested the feasibility of carrying out association analysis for agronomic and morphological data.Peer reviewe

Spanish barley landraces outperform modern cultivars at low-productivity sites

31 Pags.- 3 Tabls.- 2 Figs.- Additional Supporting Information may be found in the online version of this article (1 Fig., 4 Tabls.). The definitive version is available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1439-0523Barley landraces from the western Mediterranean area have not been thoroughly exploited by modern breeding. This study aims at assessing the agronomic value of a core collection of lines derived from landraces of Spanish origin and to compare them with sets of successful old and modern cultivars. The agronomic performance of a set of 175 barley genotypes, comprising 159 landrace-derived lines and 26 cultivars, was evaluated in a series of 10 field trials, carried out over 3 years and several locations. The most relevant trait of the landraces was higher grain yield at low production sites than cultivars, which may be related with better ability to fill the grain under stressful conditions. On the other hand, lateness, excessive plant height and lodging were negative traits frequently found in the landraces. Large genotype-by-environment interaction (GEI) for grain yield was detected, related partly with differences between germplasm groups, probably indicating local adaptation. GEI was also associated with the interaction of heading time and powdery mildew resistance with temperature.This research was funded by project RTA01-088-C3, granted by the Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentación (INIA), of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology, and co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, and by the Aragon regional government, through the funding of research group A06. Samia Yahiaoui was supported by a scholarship from the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional (AECI), of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Peer reviewe

Quantitative trait loci for agronomic traits in an elite barley population for Mediterranean conditions

31 Pags., 4 Tabls., 1 Fig. Available online 15 September 2013. The definitive version is available at: http://link.springer.com/journal/11032Advances in plant breeding through marker-assisted selection (MAS) are only possible when genes or quantitative trait loci (QTLs) can contribute to the improvement of elite germplasm. A population of recombinant inbred lines (RILs) was developed for one of the best crosses of the Spanish National Barley Breeding Program, between two six-row winter barley cultivars Orria and Plaisant. The objective of this study was to identify favourable QTLs for agronomic traits in this population, which may help to optimise breeding strategies for these and other elite materials for the Mediterranean region. A genetic linkage map was developed for 217 RILs, using 382 single nucleotide polymorphism markers, selected from the barley oligonucleotide pool assay BOPA1 and two genes. A subset of 112 RILs was evaluated for several agronomic traits over a period of 2 years at three locations, Lleida and Zaragoza (Spain) and Fiorenzuola d’Arda (Italy), for a total of five field trials. An important segregation distortion occurred during population development in the region surrounding the VrnH1 locus. A QTL for grain yield and length of growth cycle was also found at this locus, apparently linked to a differential response of the VrnH1 alleles to temperature. A total of 33 QTLs was detected, most of them for important breeding targets such as plant height and thousand-grain weight. QTL × environment interactions were prevalent for most of the QTLs detected, although most interactions were of a quantitative nature. Therefore, QTLs suitable for MAS for most traits were identified.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN), who funded this work with the scholarship BES-2008-009623 (EM), and the projects AGL2010-21929, GEN2006-28560- E and RTA2009-00006-C04. The James Hutton Institute receives grant in aid from the Scottish Government's Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division.Peer reviewe

LAVINIA – Variedad de cebada

Referencia OEVV: 20080309.-- Fecha de solicitud: 11/08/2008. Comercialización: en concurso de adjudicación.Nueva variedad de cebada de seis carreras. Presenta amplia adaptación a las condiciones de cultivo españolas. Talla media. Espigado medio. Tipo fenológico alternativo. Aptitud maltera.Peer reviewe

A model of the genetic differences in malting quality between European and North American barley cultivars based on a QTL study of the cross Triumph × Morex

11 Pags., 2 Tabls., 2 Figs.To study the genetic control of malting quality, in North American and European barley varieties, over five contrasting environments, 106 doubled haploid (DH) lines, from the cross ‘Triumph’ × ‘Morex’, were grown at Pullman (Washington State, USA) in 2002, Dundee (Scotland) in 2003 and 2005 and Lleida and Valladolid (Northern Spain) in 2006. The vrs locus, associated with two-row vs. six-row ear type, had a significant effect, as two-row lines had higher grain protein content at all sites. This had variable effects on other malting parameters, but hot water extract (EXT) was not significantly affected at the two Spanish sites. Quantitative trait loci associated with malting characters were distributed across all seven chromosomes, but the most influential, with effects on EXT and alcohol yield, at more than one site, were on 1H, with ‘Morex’ providing the increasing allele and 5H, with the increasing allele from ‘Triumph’. Transgressive segregation, in both directions, occurred at all sites. It was concluded that crosses between European and North American germplasm could enhance quality attributes in barley cultivated across diverse environments.The Centre UdL-IRTA forms part of the Centre CONSOLIDER INGENIO 2010 on Agrigenomics funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science and acknowledges partial funding from DGCYT and INIA. The Scottish group is funded by the Scottish Government Rural and Environment Research and Analysis Directorate (RERAD). From the USA component of the study, technical field contributions by Vadim Jitkov are gratefully acknowledged, as well as financial support from the Washington State Univ., Col. of Agric., Human, and Nat. Res. Sci., Agric. Res. Cen. Proj. 1006 and the U.S. Barley Genome Project through the USDA-CSREES Special Grant 2006-34213-17026.Peer reviewe

Colección Nuclear de Cebadas Españolas: Banco de Germoplasma de la Estación Experimental de Aula Dei [www - base de datos]

* The development of the CORE is described in: E. Igartua. M.P. Gracia, J.M. Lasa, B. Medina, J.L. Molina-Cano, J.L. Montoya and I. Romagosa. 1998. The Spanish Barley Core Collection. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 45: 475-481. ** Related book: Spanish Barley : Core Collection / José Manuel Lasa (coordinator).-- Madrid : Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria, cop. 2008.-- 222 p. : il. col. ; 24 cm.-- (Monografías INIA. Agrícola . Núm. 25-2008). ISBN 978-84-7498-526-9.[EN] Spanish barleys constitute a germplasm group of particular interest for breeding purposes, as Spain has been proposed as a possible centre of origin of the crop. The Spanish National Phytogenetic Resources Centre (CRF) holds a collection of more than 2000 barley accessions, mostly landraces collected in Spain prior to extensive introduction of modern varieties. From these materials a Core Collection, representative of ancient barley genotypes grown in Spain, was created. The Spanish Barley Core Collection (SBCC) was constituted by three groups of germplasm: successful old varieties (16); and 2-row (11) and 6-row (148) entries from the CRF, for a total of 175 entries. Entries were selected by stratified sampling in agro-ecological uniform zones of barley cultivation in Spain. Classification of agro-ecological regions for barley was based on historical yield records for Spanish provinces. Once the SBCC was constituted, a comprehensive process of evaluation went on for many traits. This task was accomplished by three Spanish Institutions (CSIC, IRTA, ITACyL) in collaboration with two German teams (JKI, LfL). This evaluation has shown a genetic diversity clearly distinctive from other European germplasms, and due to its good adaptation to Mediterranean conditions it is currently been used in the Spanish National Barley Breeding Program. This work summarizes the effort of a large number of scientists during ten years, constituting and characterizing the SBCC, and offers a good representation of the Spanish genetic diversity in barley, thoroughly characterized, providing a material of high interest for scientists and plant breeders.[ES] Las cebadas españolas constituyen un grupo de germoplasma de gran interés para la mejora, ya que España ha sido propuesta como un posible Centro de Origen del cultivo. El Centro Nacional de Recursos Fitogenéticos (CRF) alberga una colección con más de 2000 entradas de cebada (BNG), fundamentalmente cultivares recolectados antes de la entrada de variedades modernas. A partir de estos materiales se constituyó la Colección Nuclear, representando los materiales de cebada sembrados en España. Esta Colección Nuclear de Cebadas Españolas (SBCC) se constituyó mediante la incorporación de tres tipos de germoplasma: variedades comerciales cultivadas en España (16); y cultivares provenientes del CRF de 2 carreras (11) y seis carreras (148); en total 175 entradas. Estas se eligieron mediante muestreo estratificado por regiones agro-ecológicas, basado en los datos históricos provinciales. Una vez que se constituyó la SBCC, se inició un proceso exhaustivo de evaluación para múltiples caracteres. Este esfuerzo se realizó con la participación de tres Instituciones Españolas (CSIC, IRTA e ITACyL) en colaboración con dos equipos alemanes (JKI, LfL). Esta evaluación ha demostrado una diversidad genética claramente diferenciada de otros germoplasmas europeos, con buena adaptación a las condiciones mediterráneas, por lo que se emplea en el Programa Nacional de Mejora de Cebada. Este trabajo resume el esfuerzo de un gran número de investigadores durante diez años, constituyendo y caracterizando la SBCC, y ofrece una buena representación de la diversidad genética española en cebada, profundamente caracterizada, proveyendo un material de alto interés para investigadores y mejoradores.The decision to create this website was taken by the three groups involved (Estación Experimental de Aula Dei-CSIC from Zaragoza, the IRTA from Lleida and the ITA from Valladolid), at that moment, in the National Barley Breeding Program, and with the help and financial support of the Centro Nacional de Recursos Fitogenéticos and the Instituto National de Investigaciones Agrarias, the work was finally completed.Peer reviewe