title: A DNA marker closely linked to the vrs1 locus (row-type gene) indicates multiple origins of six-rowed cultivated barley ( Hordeum vulgare L.).
abstract: The origin of six-rowed cultivated barley was studied using a DNA marker cMWG699 closely linked to the vrs1 locus. Restriction patterns of the PCR-amplified product of the cMWG699 locus were examined in 280 cultivated ( Hordeum vulgare ssp. vulgare) and 183 wild ( H. vulgare ssp. spontaneum) barleys. Nucleotide sequences of the PCR products were also examined in selected accessions. Six-rowed cultivated barleys were divided into two distinct groups, types I and II. Type I six-rowed cultivated barley was distributed widely while type II six-rowed cultivated barley was found only in the Mediterranean region. The type I sequence was also found in a wild barley accession from Turkmenistan whereas the type II sequence was also found in a two-rowed cultivated barley from North Africa and a wild barley from Morocco. These results suggested that the six-rowed type I and II barleys were derived from two-rowed type I and II barleys, respectively, by independent mutations at the vrs1 locus.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Agrobiological Resources, Kannondai, Tsukuba 305-8602, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tanno
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Taketa
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Komatsuda