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GrainGenes Reference Report: NPH-214-468

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Reference
NPH-214-468
Title
A novel mutation conferring the nonbrittle phenotype of cultivated barley.
Journal
New Phytologist
Year
2017
Volume
214
Pages
468-472
Author
Civan P
Brown TA
Abstract
The nonbrittle rachis, resulting in a seed head which does not shatter at maturity, is one of the key phenotypes that distinguishes domesticated barley from its wild relatives. The phenotype is associated with two loci, Btr1 and Btr2, with all domesticated barleys thought to have either a 1bp deletion in Btr1 or an 11bp deletion in Btr2. We used a PCR genotyping method with 380 domesticated barley landraces to identify those with the Btr1 deletion and those with the Btr2 deletion. We discovered two landraces, from Serbia and Greece, that had neither deletion. Instead these landraces possess a novel point mutation in Btr1, changing a leucine to a proline in the protein product. We confirmed that plants carrying this mutation have the nonbrittle phenotype and identified wild haplotypes from the Gaziantep region of southeast Turkey as the closest wild relatives of these two landraces. The presence of a third mutation conferring the nonbrittle phenotype of domesticated barley shows that the origin of this trait is more complex than previously thought, and is consistent with recent models that view the transition to agriculture in southwest Asia as a protracted and multiregional process.
External Databases
PubMed: 28092403
Keyword
agricultural origins
barley
brittle rachis
Hordeum vulgare
nonbrittle phenotype

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