Haplotype structure around the nud locus in barley and its association with resistance to leaf stripe (Pyrenophora graminea)

The naked/hulled kernel trait is controlled in barley by a single gene called nud, on chromosome 7H. The first aim of this work was use bulked segregant analysis to find, new PCR-based markers linked to nud for marker-assisted selection (MAS). A new SCAR marker (sJ14) was developed, which is useful for introgressing the naked trait. This, and three other SCARs, were placed on the Proctor · Nudinka map to detail a 0.9-cM fragment tagging nud. In order to evaluate the haplotypes around the nud locus, a phenotypically differentiated collection of naked/hulled genotypes was characterized by means of the above markers. Eight different marker haplotypes were found in the breeding germplasm, and a new allele for the marker sKT7 was found. The same barley collection has been surveyed for resistance/ susceptibility to leaf stripe (Pyrenophora graminea), in order to investigate any possible association between this and other traits. The naked/hulled seed trait was not associated with resistance/ susceptibility to the fungus.