High Resolution Mapping of Rph Conferring Resistance to Puccinia hordei in Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)

Isolation of disease resistance genes in barley was hampered by the large genome size, but has become easy due to the availability of the reference genome sequence. During the last years, many genomic resources, e.g., the Illumina 9K iSelect, the 50K Infinium arrays, the Barley Genome Zipper, POPSEQ, and genotyping by sequencing (GBS), were developed that enable enhanced gene isolation in combination with the barley genome sequence. In the present study, we developed a fine map of the barley leaf rust resistance gene Rph . 537 segmental homozygous recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from 4775 F₂-plants were used to construct a high-resolution mapping population (HRMP). The Barley Genome Zipper, the 9K iSelect chip, the 50K Infinium chip and GBS were used to develop 56 molecular markers located in the target interval of 8 cM. This interval was narrowed down to about 0.07 cM corresponding to 0.44 Mb of the barley reference genome. Eleven low-confidence and 18 high-confidence genes were identified in this interval. Five of these are putative disease resistance genes and were subjected to allele-specific sequencing. In addition, comparison of the genetic map and the reference genome revealed an inversion of 1.34 Mb located distally to the resistance locus. In conclusion, the barley reference sequence and the respective gene annotation delivered detailed information about the physical size of the target interval, the genes located in the target interval and facilitated the efficient development of molecular markers for marker-assisted selection for Rph