Proceedings of the XLV Italian Society of Agricultural Genetics - SIGA Annual Congress

Salsomaggiore Terme, Italy - 26/29 September, 2001

ISBN 88-900622-1-5

Poster Abstract

FUNCTIONAL GENOMICS FOR EXPLORING GENETIC VARIABILITY IN H. SPONTANEUM

FACCIOLI P.*, LAGONIGRO S.**, STANCA A.M.*, TRECORDI E.*, TERZI V.*

* Istituto Sperimentale per la Cerealicoltura, Via S.Protaso 302, I-29017 Fiorenzuola d’Arda (Pc)

** IFOM (Istituto FIRC di Oncologia Molecolare), Via Serio, Milano

biodiversity, Hordeum, functional genomics

The genus Hordeum, belonging to the Triticeae tribe of the family Poaceae, has a wide distribution, occurring in temperate areas of the Northern as well as Southern Hemispheres and extending into sub-tropical and artic environments. The adaptation to diverse soil and climate conditions throughout the world, makes the genus a very highly rated source of potentially useful genes. In particular, Hordeum spontaneum belongs to the primary gene pool of the crop, consequently it is interfertile with cultivated barley and, for this reason, has a special interest for utilization in breeding programs.

A cDNA microarry including typical leaf-expressed genes and stress-related genes has been setted-up for the screening of H.spontaneum genotypes characterized by a different geographical and climate origin. Besides information on genetic variabilty, this approach of comparative hybridization on cDNA microarry can point out genes involved in the cellular response to stress conditions, leading to the potential identification of novel resources for plant breeding.