Genetic variation in drought response and transpiration in barley

Barley has been cultivated throughout the world for centuries. During that time, it has experienced different climatic conditions and selective pressure. The consecutive genetic variation gives us a valuable source to explore various components of yield and stress resilience. In this research field experiments were performed on 24 European barley cultivar and landrace genotypes, as well as laboratory experiments on 15 genotypes; 13 cultivated and 2 genetically modified genotypes. The aim of the field tests was to examine the genotypic variation in Finnish weather conditions during two growth seasons in Viikki and to find out how stomatal conductance differs between varieties and whether it can be connected to yield. The aim of the laboratory tests conducted in Tartu was to examine the genotypic variation in the ability of barley seedlings’ stomata to react to changes in environmental conditions with high vapor pressure deficit and abscisic acid treatment. The reason for this study is the ongoing climate change, which challenges breeders to create new resilient varieties for future climatic conditions. In addition to genomic data and genetic tools a wide variety of genotype data is needed to capture valuable traits that different varieties possess. The hypothesis of this study was to find differences in gas exchange, that could be useful considering breeding of resilient barley cultivars adapted to future climatic conditions. The tests conducted in field and laboratory conditions demonstrated, that genotypic variation could be found among here tested barley varieties. In the experiments we found several interesting cultivars, that could be tested further to verify their usefulness in breeding resilient barley cultivars for future climatic conditions.