Evaluation of Genomic Prediction and the Agronomic Performance of Facultative Barley
| dc.contributor.author | Reith, Francis Arthur | en |
| dc.contributor.committeechair | Santantonio, Nicholas | en |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Haak, David C. | en |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Holliday, Jason A. | en |
| dc.contributor.department | Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences | en |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-10-29T08:00:12Z | en |
| dc.date.available | 2024-10-29T08:00:12Z | en |
| dc.date.issued | 2024-10-28 | en |
| dc.description.abstract | Cultivated barley typically exhibits either a winter growth habit or a spring growth habit. Some cultivars display a facultative growth habit, allowing them to be cultivated as either winter or spring crops. This study evaluated 1,128 elite barley cultivars and breeding lines under fall and spring sowing to determine which lines had a facultative growth habit and the underlying genetics thereof. In the fall of 2021 and subsequent spring of 2022, The first trial focused on identifying genetic factors associated with facultative habit. Results indicated that facultative lines were rare, with the majority exhibiting a winter growth habit. GENOME WIDE SCANS revealed no novel QTL associated with facultative habit, but significant QTLs on chromosome 4H were identified, correlating with the vernalization gene "VRN-H2." Several haplotypes found on chromosome 4H within appear significant and may contribute to differences in facultative habit. Only 28% of facultative lines could be accurately predicted based on genetic data, suggesting that facultative habit is a more complex trait than previously understood. Significant epistatic interactions between chromosome 4H and 4 other chromosomes were discovered. These findings indicate facultative habit is a much more quantitative trait than previously reported. The second trial involved growing the best-performing lines from the first trial under both fall and spring sowing conditions. Winter-sown barley consistently outperformed spring-sown barley in grain yield across all facultative lines. Despite strong performance under spring conditions, yield rankings were inconsistent across both sowing seasons, implying that agronomic performance cannot be reliably predicted across seasons. Notably, the Virginia Tech malt barley line 'Avalon' demonstrated facultative growth but exhibited poor agronomic quality under spring sowing. In contrast, lines such as 'VA22M-20DH1349' and 'VA22M-20DH1182' showed superior performance in both sowing regimes, indicating their potential for future breeding programs and agronomic trials for facultative barley in the American East. | en |
| dc.description.abstractgeneral | Barley (Hordeum vulgare) is a dynamic crop with many important uses globally. Barley grain is nutritious and cheap to produce, and is important for livestock feed, direct human consumption, and for making malted products. In America, barley is primarily grown to produce malted products such as beer and liquor. Traditionally malt barley is grown in the Pacific Northwest and Upper Great Plains regions. However, due to the craft brewery revolution and rising economic and environmental concerns, there is significant interest in growing malt barley more local to where it will be malted, brewed, and consumed. Breeding malt barley lines that are suited for the eastern portions of America is important to meet the rising demands of consumers and brewers. Traditionally malt barley is of the spring growth habit (being planted in spring and harvested in late summer). Most barley cultivars for the American East are of the winter growth habit (being planted in fall and harvested in early summer). Some cultivars of barley may have the facultative growth habit, where they have the genetic capability to be cultivated as either the winter or spring crops. Here, 1128 elite cultivars and breeding lines adapted to the American East were screened for facultative growth habit. Two separate trials occurred. The first was focused on the genetic factors that permit lines to be facultative. Here, we observed that few lines are facultative, and most lines tend to exclusively be of the winter growth habit. Following a genome wide association study, no novel quantitative trait loci (QTL)related to facultative habit were discovered. QTLs heavily associated with facultative habit were observed on chromosome 4H. These QTL have previously been associated with the vernalization gene "VRN-H2". Additionally, using all genetic data available, only 28% of facultative lines could accurately be predicted. This result suggests facultative habit is a much more quantitative trait than previous studies have suggested. The second trial was an agronomic trial in which the best performing lines from the first trial were grown as both fall and spring sown crops. The same lines were cultivated across seasons, and their yields compared. The grain yield of winter sown barley outperformed spring sown barley for all facultative lines. Spring barley performed well agronomically, with some lines yielding more than 5500 Kg/Ha. Yield performance was not equal across seasons; meaning that top yielding lines under winter sowing were top yielding lines under spring sowing. Due to this it is unlikely that agronomic performance can be predicted across seasons, and we find that facultative performance will need to be evaluated in the field. We found the Virginia Tech malt barley line 'Avalon' to be facultative but holds poor agronomic quality under spring sowing. Several lines such as 'VA22M-20DH1349' and 'VA22M-20DH1182' exhibited superior performance across spring and winter sowing, and may be candidates for future breeding efforts or agronomic trials for spring and facultative barley in the American East. | en |
| dc.description.degree | Master of Science | en |
| dc.format.medium | ETD | en |
| dc.identifier.other | vt_gsexam:41518 | en |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10919/121505 | en |
| dc.language.iso | en | en |
| dc.publisher | Virginia Tech | en |
| dc.rights | Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International | en |
| dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ | en |
| dc.subject | Barley | en |
| dc.title | Evaluation of Genomic Prediction and the Agronomic Performance of Facultative Barley | en |
| dc.type | Thesis | en |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences | en |
| thesis.degree.grantor | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | en |
| thesis.degree.level | masters | en |
| thesis.degree.name | Master of Science | en |
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