Wild Barley: A treasure trove of disease resistance genes for cultivated barley improvement

Presentation by Dr. Brian Steffenson, University of Minnesota at the 2024 Barley Improvement Conference
Wild barley (Hordeum vulgare ssp. spontaneum) is the progenitor of barley and is genetically diverse. To exploit this taxon for novel resistance genes, a collection of accessions (Wild Barley Diversity Collection or WBDC) was assembled and evaluated for resistance to isolates of the powdery mildew, stem rust, leaf rust, stripe rust, net blotch, spot blotch, and leaf scald pathogens. From these evaluations, many diverse sources of resistance were identified. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are being conducted on the WBDC to position the identified resistance genes on the chromosomes using whole genome sequencing data.