Genetic mapping of the barley lodging resistance locus E rectoides‐k

The barley ( Hordeum vulgare L.) mutant erectoides‐k.32 ( ert‐k.32 ) was isolated in 1947 from an X‐ray‐mutant population of cultivar ‘Bonus’. The mutant was released as a cultivar in 1958 with the name ‘Pallas’ – one of the first cereal crop cultivars developed from induced mutants. ‘Pallas’ is a semi‐dwarf barley cultivar known for its culm stability and resistance to lodging. In total, eight allelic ert‐k mutants are known that show different phenotypic strength concerning culm length and spike architecture. They represent alternatives to the widely used, but pleiotropic ‘Green Revolution’ alleles of the Sdw1 ( semidwarf1/denso ) and Uzu1 ( semi‐brachytic1 ) genes in breeding of robust elite barley cultivars. In the present study, we locate Ert‐k to a 15.7‐ cM region in the centromeric region of chromosome 6H. Although the interval is estimated to contain approximately 700 genes, the work provides a solid foundation for the identification of the underlying mutations causing the ert‐k lodging‐resistant phenotype. In addition, the linked markers could be used to follow the ert‐k mutant genotype in marker‐assisted selection of new lodging‐resistant barley cultivars.