Inter simple sequence repeat analysis of genetic diversity and relationships in cultivated barley of Nordic and Baltic origin

This study evaluates putative changes of genetic diversity and relationships of barley in the Nordic and Baltic countries that might have taken place during the last century as a result of commercial breeding. Four ISSR primers were used to analyse 227 accessions, yielding a total of 47 polymorphic loci. Shannon-Weaver diversity values for each locus ranged from 0.012 to 0.693. Overall, there were no significant changes of genetic diversity observed over time. A significant decrease of diversity was, however, observed in material from the southern parts of the Nordic and Baltic countries. In material from the northern parts no decrease of diversity was observed. The genetic diversity of six…