Analysis on the Genetic Differences among Barley Varieties (lines) with Different Grain Color Based on SSR Marker

Purpose To study the genetic differences among barley varieties (lines) with different grain colors, laying a foundation for the breeding of special varieties in flavonoids.

Methods A total of 51 simple sequence repeats (SSR) loci distributed in seven chromosomes of barley were used to analyze the genetic differences among barley varieties (lines) with different grain colors.

Results The number of allele mutants in different SSR loci ranged from 2 to 16 in 25 material genomes, the polymorphism information content (PIC) of the different SSR loci ranged from 0.491 to 0.922. The genetic similarity coefficients among 25 barley varieties ranged from 0.569 to 0.872, with the smallest genetic similarity coefficient between wn-6 and wn-16, and the largest genetic similarity coefficient between wn-16 and wn-17. The results of cluster analysis showed that three black grain lines (wn-16, wn-17 and wn-18) were clustered into the first group, three purple grain varieties (wn-13, wn-14 and wn-15) and six blue grain varieties (wn-20, wn-21, wn-22, wn-23, wn-24 and wn-25) were clustered into the second group, and five brown grain varieties (wn-1, wn-2, wn-3, wn-4 and wn-5), three yellow grain varieties (wn-6, wn-7 and wn-8) and four purple grain varieties (wn-9, wn-10, wn-11 and wn-12) were clustered into the third group.

Conclusion The barley varieties (lines) with the same grain color show relatively high genetic similarity, and the genetic similarity between wn-6 and wn-16, wn-6 and wn-18, wn-1 and wn-24 are relatively lower, the paired materials can be used as hybrid parents for barley breeding specially for flavonoids.