Investigations into the linkage of genes controlling individual quantitative characters in barley

Abstract

Technical innovations in barley breeding have resulted in the ability to reduce generation times. Single seed descent and doubled haploidy have become practical propositions in barley improvement. These Fx samples are also powerful tools for genetical analyses and have been used in this paper together with conventional generations to investigate the linkage of genes controlling quantitative characters. Such investigations are of relevance to barley breeders since the detection of significant levels of repulsion linkages would indicate that the single seed descent (SSD) technique would be preferable to doubled-haploid (DH) methods. The present study indicated that estimates of D (the additive genetic variance) from DH and SSD sampled did not differ significantly. Thus linkage disequilibrium is not an important component of the genetic architecture of the five crosses investigated. Hence F1-derived doubled haploids or SSD will be equally effective in producing desirable recombinant inbred lines.Key words: Hordeum, doubled haploids, linkage disequilibrium.