Nutzung des genetischen potentials der hordeum-wildarten zur verbesserung der kulturgerste (Hordeum vutgare L.)

Conservation and sustainable use of crop plant genetic resources are presently of great importance for global agriculture. The rapid spread of high-yielding varieties in the last decades has greatly narrowed the genetic diversity of all cultivated crops, among them cultivated barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). The preservation and use of the diverse germ plasm in ex situ and in situ collections of wild barley species serve to safeguard genetic vulnerabilities caused by diseases, insects and abiotic stresses. Exotic germplasm in Hordeum species provides a huge presently existing genetic reservoir for breeding of cultivated barley.