Evaluation of genetic variability in naked barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)

ABSTRACT: Genetic diversity is the basis for successful crop improvement and can be estimated by different methods. The objectives of this study were to estimate the genetic diversity of 63 naked barley genotype using agro-morphological traits, biochemical and molecular markers and to determine the relationships of genetic distance estimates obtained from these methods. Among traits under study, a considerable diversity was observed for peduncle length, 1000-grain weight and grain yield per plot. In the analysis of the hordeins, no polymorphism was observed in the area D hordein. However, 10 patterns in the area C hordein, and 13 patterns in the area B hordein were observed; and in total 32 bands and 32 patterns were observed. A total of 290 bands were observed using 16 random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) primers, of which 222 (76.5%) were polymorphic. The total number of amplification products per primer ranged from 10 (S18) to 29 (S32) with an average of 18.12 bands per primer. In inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) analyses, a total of 283 alleles were detected, among which 261 alleles (92.2 %) were polymorphic. The number of alleles per primer ranged from 9 (ISSR-3) to 26 (ISSR-15) with an average of 17.7 alleles per ISSR primer. The results in this study suggested that, although the analysis of hordeins, RAPD and ISSR markers could successfully be used to investigate the genetic diversity of the barley accessions, the ISSR markers were superior to hordeins and RAPD markers in the capacity of revealing more informative bands in a single amplification. Whereas that all of investigated genotypes were from ICARDA, high level of diversity was observed in the samples through agro-morphological traits, storage proteins and molecular markers, which could be used in future breeding programs, widely.