GENES FOR SHORT STATURE IN BARLEY

Inheritance of height in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) was studied with the objective of finding genes for short stature and understanding hei ght inheritance. Segregation for height was visually classified in F-3 populations derived from crosses of 11 short-stature genotypes to two testers, tall cultivar Robust and M62 (a Minnesota semidwarf line con taining the 'Jotun' derived sdw gene). Populations were classified in the field from 1987 to 1991. Height In the short-stature genotypes was hypothesized to be controlled by one, two, or three recessive genes. The seven genotypes which have only one short-stature gene, 'Diamant' ('Triumph' and 'Cheri), 'Gus', 'Kombar', NK41558, and SMAI6W41428, app ear to contain sdw or an alternative allele at that locus. We hypothes ize that two genotypes, E295 and 'Poco', contain one short-stature gen e in addition to the sdw gene, and that Apam Dwarf contains two short- stature genes as well as sdw. 'UC476', the only short-stature genotype in this study that appears not to contain sdw, likely has two other s hort-stature genes. Heights of the parents and F-2.3 progenies fell ro ughly into four classes, which we hypothesized corresponded to genotyp es with no, one, two, or three recessive short-stature genes. Height d ifferences in all populations and among the parents indicated that mod ifying genes play an important role in determining height. This study revealed that the sdw gene is widespread, occurring in 10 of the 11 sh ort-stature genotypes. Putative new genes for short-stature were found in E295, UC476, Poco, and Apam Dwarf.