Microsatellite SSR variation in Barley germplasm and its potential use for marker assisted selection in scald resistance breeding

Scald (caused by Rhynchosporium secalis) is one of the major plant diseases of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) cultivation in central Anatolia and transitional zones of Turkey. Eighty barley germplasm consisting of 40 resistant and 40 sensitive lines provided by Central Research Institute of Field Crops were screened with six simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers to assess the magnitude and pattern of genetic diversity, as well as to investigate potential use of these markers for efficient scald resistant breeding program in the future. Estimated genetic parameters indicated that scald resistant (He=0.43) and sensitive (He=0.40) barley lines still maintain large and similar magnitude of genetic diversity. However, genetic variation among the lines was higher in the sensitive lines (46%) than in the resistant lines (39%). Especially, the presence of high genetic diversity among resistant lines (e.g., R25, R39) suggests that this diversity could be an important drive in future scald resistant barley breeding programs. The results of this study also revealed that Bmag6 and Bmag206 as SSR markers could be utilized in pre-screening of large number of barley lines for future scald resistance breeding programs with reduced time, cost and labo