The assessment of genetic variation in Spanish primitive cultivars of barley, Hordeum vulgare L., by a combination of isozymes and hordeins

Five isozyme and endosperm reserve protein systems were analysed using electrophoretic techniques in order to investigate the genetic diversity of 222 accessions of Spanish, local varieties of barley, Hordeum vulgare L., maintained at the Centro de Conservación de Recursos Fitogeneéticos of the I.N.I.A. (Alcalá de Henares, Spain). The esterase (EST) isozymes provided more information than did the other systems analysed, showing a total of 14 variable markers. The cathodic peroxidases (CPX) and acid phosphatases (ACPH) were also polymorphic. Malate dehydrogenase (MDH) and glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT) were monomorphic. The hordeins showed patterns of up to 15 bands, the majority of which were very useful in distinguishing genotypes. 17.2% of accessions showed a uniform genotype, 29.8% showed practically identical genotypes and 53% showed mixtures of different genotypes. It is noteworthy that the use of only two systems (EST and hordeins) and the analysis of only six loci (Est-1, Est-2, Est-4, Hor-1, Hor-2 and Hor-3) is sufficient to reveal the genetic diversity of the collection.