A CONSENSUS LINKAGE MAP OF BARLEY

A consensus linkage map of the barley genome was constructed. The map is based on six doubled haploid and one F-2 population. The mapping da ta for three of the doubled haploid populations was obtained via the G rainGenes database. To allow merger of the maps, only RFLP markers tha t produce a single scorable band were included. Although this reduced the available markers by about half, the resultant map contains a tota l of 587 markers including 87 of known function. As expected, gene ord er was highly conserved between maps and all but two discrepancies wer e found in closely linked markers and are likely to result from the sm all population sizes used for some maps. The consensus map allows the rapid localisation of markers between published maps and should facili tate the selection of markers for high-density mapping in defined regi ons.