Linkage and Inheritance Studies in Barley (Hordeum)

Barley has had wide acceptance not only as a cultivated crop but also as an excellent source of genetic material. Barley was being used in inheritance studies by Tschermak when he rediscovered Mendel\u27s laws of heredity. Since then barley has become one of the most widely used plants for genetic studies known today. More than 100 characters have been investigated indicating the relative ease of classification. There are 7 linkage groups corresponding to the 7 chromosomes in which 2 or more characters have been located as reported by Robertson (1939). But Kramer, Veyl, and Hanson (1954), from translocation experiments, suggest that linkage group III and VII should be combined in separate arms of the same chromosome. The present work is a study of character inheritance and linkage relationships aimed toward identifying the number of genes conditioning individual characters and associating them with linkage groups. When barley genes are more completely placed in their respective linkage groups, breeding for various good characteristics can be enhanced materially. This is readily accomplished when linkages are found between desirable characters for which selection is difficult or time-consuming