Barley Outline for Breeding Program profiles – to be posted at PBGP website.
http://horticulture.oregonstate.edu/group/plantbreeding
1. Some facts about barley
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Barley is one of the world’s oldest cultivated crops. It was domesticated more
than 10,000 years ago in the Middle East.
Its genus name comes from the word hordearii, or barley men, in reference to
the Roman gladiators who grew burly eating barley.
In 2010, barley was the world’s fourth most-produced cereal in terms of
metric tons, grown mainly for animal feed.
Barley contains beta-glucan, which has been shown to reduce cholesterol. Its
low glycemic index and high fiber content make it a healthy choice for those
with diabetes or who want to shed some pounds.
New types of barley for food are being developed, including ones crossed
with multicolored barley from Mongolia, Nepal, and Tibet.
2. Rationale and program goals
a. Economic and/or scientific importance to Oregon
The state’s output peaked at 21.9 million bushels in 1957, according to the
U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 2011, the state’s farmers harvested just 2.4
million bushels, earning gross sales of $10.6 million, according to a report from
the OSU Extension Service, the lowest production since 1909. That same year,
barley made up only 2.5 percent of all grains harvested in Oregon in terms of
bushels, and it ranked 47th in gross sales among the state’s agricultural
commodities.
There are currently 136 brewing companies, operating 169 brewing facilities
in 61 cities in Oregon. Total economic impact from the beer industry on Oregon’s
economy is $2.44 billion. Oregon is the second largest producer of craft beer in
the US.Taking into account that Oregon is the craft brew epicenter in the world, it
deserves Oregon malting barley.
b. Summary of short, medium, long-term goals
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Evaluate thousands of different genetic crosses to see how well they resist
disease, tolerate the cold, and perform in the kitchen and brewery.
Estimate their yields, growing some of them organically, and seeing how
much water and nitrogen they need.
Highlight nutritional properties of barley and make consumers be aware of it.
Keep robust and regular consumption.
Diversify farmers’ crops with barley and cash in on a growing interest in
microbrews and whole-grain diets.
Obtain high-yielding grain that incorporates flavor, texture, and color to beer,
food, and livestock feed.
3. Current Research Projects
a. Focus
Current research interests in the barley breeding program include:
development of winter habit barley varieties for malting and human nutrition; the
many facets of winter hardiness; dissection of quantitative disease resistance;
characterization and utilization of genetic diversity; stimulating local barley
production; and barley quality assessment.
An important objective is developing barley that reflects the terroir—or soil
and climate—of Oregon, much like wine grapes by seeing if genes influence the
flavor of barley.
b. Breeding method(s)
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Doubled haploid production
Single seed descent
Molecular Marker Assistant Selection (MAS)
c. Sponsors
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Oregon Wheat commission funding
Agricultural Research Foundation
American Malting Barley Association
Busch Agricultural Resources
Great Western Malting
Idaho Barley Commission
New Glarus Brewing
Sierra Nevada Brewing
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USDA-ARS
USDA-NIFA
TriticeaeCAP
d. Collaborators
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Matt Kolding
Chris Mundt
Steve Petrie
Andrew Ross
Tom Shellhammer
Dr. David Hole at Utah State University
Dr. Kevin Smith at the University of Minnesota
Dr. Xianming Chen at Washington State University
Partnered research with countries that include Australia, Germany, Japan,
Scotland, and Uruguay.
4. Graduate student training
PI statement of expectations for grad students
Graduate students require showing academic motivation, infinite curiosity,
and hard working. Graduate students should have experience in field, greenhouse,
and lab activities. It is expected that Master’s students publish one journal paper
and PhD students two to three journal papers to pursue their respective degrees.
Besides all these academic requirements, students need to have an astute,
adventurous and can-do attitude all the time.
a. Past and current grad student projects
My research focuses on breeding novel varieties of food barley. The material that
is currently in our advanced trials consists of Himalayan and European
germplasm crossed with OSU adapted varieties. These trials are being grown at
multiple locations over multiple years under different conditions including
organic, conventional, irrigated, and dryland. I am characterizing our most
advanced food lines for a number of cereal quality traits, including grain beta-
glucan, grain protein, kernel hardness, flour quality, and a variety of nutritional
traits. Many of these cereal chemistry tests have never been run with barley, so I
am adapting protocol from wheat and rice. These advanced lines have also
undergone informal sensory testing to determine if there is a difference in flavor,
aroma, and texture. To promote the consumption of barley, I maintain a webpage
to post information, recipes, and reports on food barley to reach out to local
farmers, chefs, and anyone who is interested in eating barley.
Brigid Meints
I am conducting genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for nitrogen use
efficiency, water use efficiency, disease resistance, yield components and malting
quality using elite germplasm - a panel of 300 advanced lines (F6 or later
generations) from the Oregon State University and University of Minnesota
winter and facultative 6-row barley breeding programs. Part of my project
involves indirect assessment of various traits (especially nitrogen and water use
efficiencies) via canopy spectral reflectance.
Araby Belcher
For my master's degree, I've focused on the contributions barley can make to beer
flavor. To do this, we selected a set of 114 barley landraces and cultivars from
the NSGS World Core collection for barley, which are being used to make wort at
Sierra Nevada Brewing Company (wort is a precursor to beer). Each wort will
undergo sensory analysis to determine if specific barley varieties can contribute
positive flavors to the wort, and which varieties do so. If this is a success, we
hope to identify the genes responsible for positive flavors, and introgress them
into modern malting varieties to make better beer. Currently, Bells, Firestone,
New Glarus, Russian River, Sierra Nevada, and Summit are all supporting my
research both financially and through their expertise in brewing.
Ryan Graebner
5. Products
a. List of publications
1. Castro, A., F. Gamba, S. German, S. Gonzales, P.M. Hayes, S. Pereyra, C.
Perez. 2012. QTL analysis of spot blotch and leaf rust resistance in the
BCD47 x Baronesse barley mapping population. Plant Breeding. 13: 258-
2.
3.
4.
5.
266.
Blake, V.C., J. Kling, P.M. Hayes, J.L. Jannink, S. R. Jillella, J. Lee, D. E.
Matthews, S. Chao, T.J. Close, G.J. Muehlbauer, K. P. Smith, R.P. Wise, J.A.
Dickerson. 2012. The Hordeum Toolbox: the Barley Coordinated Agricultural
Project genotype and phenotype resource. The Plant Genome. 5:81-91.
Fisk, S.P., A. Cuesta-Marcos, L. Cistué, J. Russell, K.P. Smith, P.S.
Baenziger, Z. Bedo, A. Corey, T. Filichkin, I. Karsai, R. Waugh and P.M.
Hayes. 2013. FR-H3: A new QTL to assist in the development of fall-sown
barley with superior low temperature tolerance. Theor. Appl. Genet. 126:33
5–347
Locatelli, A. A. Cuesta-Marcos, L. Gutiérrez, P.M. Hayes, K.P. Smith, and A.
Castro. 2013. Genome-wide association mapping of agronomic traits in
relevant barley germplasm in Uruguay. Mol. Breeding. In press.
Haggard, K. G., N. S. Geiger, P. M. Hayes, and A. J. Milligan. 2013.
Suppression of cyanobacterial growth of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae by
vascular plant decomposition products in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon. Lake
Reserv. Manag. 29: 13-22.
b. Varieties released
1. Maranna (spring 6-row feed) 1993
2. Kold (winter 6-row feed) 1996
3. Strider (winter 6-row feed) 1997
4. Orca (spring 2-row feed) 1998
5. Tango (spring 6-row feed) 2000
6. Sara (spring 6-row forage) 2002
7. Maja (winter 6-row feed/malt) 2007
8. Verdant (winter 6-row forage) 2011
9. Alba (winter 6-row feed) 2012
10. Streaker (winter 6-row food) pending
6. Image gallery
Barley plants
Two-row and six-row barley
Barley bread
Barley beer
Barley stripe rust lesion
Water use efficiency final irrigation
Infrared thermometer for canopy temperature depression
Barley Bundles