Perspectives on Low Temperature Tolerance and Vernalization Sensitivity in Barley: Prospects for Facultative Growth Habit

One option to achieving greater resiliency for barley production in the face of climate change is to explore the potential of winter and facultative growth habits: for both types, low temperature tolerance (LTT) and vernalization sensitivity are key traits. Sensitivity to short-day photoperiod is a desirable attribute for facultative types. In order to broaden our understanding of the genetics of these phenotypes, we mapped quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and identified candidate genes using a genome-wide association studies (GWAS) panel composed of 882 barley accessions that was genotyped with the Illumina 9K single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chip. Fifteen loci including 5 known and 10 novel QTL/genes were identified for LTT—assessed as winter survival in 10 field tests and mapped using a GWAS meta-analysis. FR-H1, FR-H2, and FR-H3 were major drivers of LTT, and candidate genes were identified for FR-H3. The principal determinants of vernalization sensitivity were VRN-H1, VRN-H2, and PPD-H1. VRN-H2 deletions conferred insensitive or intermediate sensitivity to vernalization. A subset of accessions with maximum LTT were identified as a resource for allele mining and further characterization. Facultative types comprised a small portion of the GWAS panel but may be useful for developing germplasm with this growth habit.