Hordein polymorphism and variation of agromorphological traits in a collection of naked barley

Genetic diversity among 49 naked barley accessions originating from three d ifferent breeding centers (International Center for Agricultural Research i n Dry Areas, Aleppo, Syria, Genetic Institute of Sofia, Bulgaria and Timiri azev Agricultural Academy of Moscow, Russia) was investigated using hordein polymorphism and agromorphological variation. The hordein electrophoresis revealed significant polymorphism: four different patterns (L, N, H1, H2) w ere distinguished for the D-, twelve for the C- and thirteen for the B-hord ein groups. Among the 49 accessions, 30 distinct patterns were identified. A genetic distance matrix based on Jaccard coefficient was elaborated and c onverted to a dendrogram using UPGMA analysis. Four main clusters, and some distant accessions were identified. The widest range of genetic variabilit y was found in ICARDA germplasm. A Principal Component Analysis based on ag romorphological traits divided the whole collection in the three groups cor responding to the three different origins. The analysis of hordein polymorp hism permitted the description of genetic relatedness within the naked barl ey collection while the evaluation of agromorphological traits permitted th e identification of accessions with promising agronomical characteristics. The value of both approaches for the study of genetic resources and their s ubsequent use in breeding is discussed.