Unlocking the genetic diversity and population structure of the newly introduced two-row spring European HerItage Barley collecTion (ExHIBiT)

In the last century, breeding programs have traditionally favoured yield-related traits, grown under high-input conditions, resulting in a loss of genetic diversity and an increased susceptibility to stresses in crops. Thus, exploiting understudied genetic resources, that potentially harbour tolerance genes, is vital for sustainable agriculture. Northern European barley germplasm has been relatively understudied despite its key role within the malting industry. The European Heritage Barley collection (ExHIBiT) was assembled to explore the genetic diversity in European barley focusing on Northern European accessions and further address environmental pressures. ExHIBiT consists of 363 spring-barley accessions, focusing on two-row type. The collection consists of landraces (~14%), old cultivars (~18%), elite cultivars (~67%) and accessions with unknown breeding history (~1%), with 70% of the collection from Northern Europe. The population structure of the ExHIBiT collection was subdivided into three main clusters primarily based on the accession’s year of release using 26,585 informative SNPs based on 50k iSelect single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array data. Power analysis established a representative core collection of 230 genotypically and phenotypically diverse accessions. The effectiveness of this core collection for conducting statistical and association analysis was explored by undertaking genome-wide association studies (GWAS) using 24,876 SNPs for nine phenotypic traits, four of which were associated with SNPs. Genomic regions overlapping with previously characterised flowering genes (HvZTLb) were identified, demonstrating the utility of the ExHIBiT core collection for locating genetic regions that determine important traits. Overall, the ExHIBiT core collection represents the high level of untapped diversity within Northern European barley, providing a powerful resource for researchers and breeders to address future climate scenarios.