U of M scientist contributes to mapping of barley genome

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (10/17/2012) —An international team of researchers, including a University of Minnesota scientist, has developed an integrated physical, genetic and functional sequence assembly of the barley genome, one of the world's most important and genetically complex cereal crops. Results are published in today's issue of Nature . The advance will give researchers the tools to produce higher yields, improve pest and disease resistance, and enhance the nutritional value of barley. Importantly, it also will "accelerate breeding improvements to help barley adapt to climate change," says Gary Muehlbauer, head of the Department of Plant Biology, a joint department of the university's College of Biological Sciences and the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences. "That means making barley more resistant to drought and able to use water and nitrogen more efficiently." Muehlbauer is vice chair of the International Barley Sequencing Consortium (IBSC), which carried out the sequencing. The IBSC (www.barleygenome.org) was founded in 2006 and includes scientists from Germany, Japan, Finland, Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and China. The USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the National Science Foundation provided funding for the US part of the effort.