AGRONOMIC PERFORMANCE AND MOLECULAR ASSESSMENT OF TISSUE CULTURE-DERIVED BARLEY LINES

In order to assess the genetic variability among regenerants, field tr ials were conducted with 64 barley lines derived from tissue culture ( TCD lines) of four Bulgarian barley varieties. The results indicate th at the agronomic performance was altered by tissue culture regeneratio n and the frequency of variation was cultivar dependent. Seven TCD lin es showing desirable agronomic characters were selected in the SC6 pro geny. Molecular markers (protein, restriction fragment length polymorp hism (RFLP) and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)) have used app lied to determine the variability induced by tissue culture. Polymorph ism was detected in sequences coding for C-hordeins in line 70 derived from cv. 'Jubiley'. Two lines from cv. 'Ruen' exhibited polymorphic b ands after hybridization with a mitochondrial DNA probe. RAPD assays h ave been carried out using 20 different 10-mer primers. Heritable poly morphisms in several TCD lines have been observed.