Renxiang Cai^1,2 , Jianhui Li^1,2 , Jia Xu^1,2

1 Institute of Life Science, Jiyang College of Zhejiang A&F University, Zhuji, 311800，China
2 Cuixi Academy of Biotechnology, Zhuji, 311800，China
Author    Correspondence author
Triticeae Genomics and Genetics, 2019, Vol. 10, No. 1   doi: 10.5376/tgg.2019.10.0001
Received: 14 Nov., 2018    Accepted: 30 Jan., 2019    Published: 29 Mar., 2019

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Cai R.X., Li J.H., and Xu J., 2019, The origin and evolution of Tibetan qingke barley based on genome sequencing data, Triticeae Genomics and Genetics, 10(1): 1-10 (doi: 10.5376/tgg.2019.10.0001)

Tibetan Qingke barley is the main food of the Tibetans, which has been cultivated on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau for about 3 500 years. Tibetan Qingke barley is a variety of naked barley (Hordeum vulgare linn.var.nudum) belonging to the Hordeum of the family of Gramineae. With domestication and cultivation on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau for 3 500-4 000 years, it has been fully adapted to the extreme plateau climate. However, the origin and evolution of Tibetan Qingke barley has always been controversial at home and abroad. Tibetan Academy of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, BGI and other research orgnizations made use of the genome sequencing data of 437 global barley germplasms including wild species, local varieties, and bred varieties to determine the origin and evolution of Tibetan Qingke barley through genetic analysis. The latest research showed that the Tibetan Qingke barley originated from the Eastern cultivated barley and entered southern Tibet through northern Pakistan, India and Nepal 3 500 years to 4 500 years ago. The low genetic diversity of Tibetan Qingke barley indicated that Tibet should be not the origin and evolution center of barley. Based on the haplotype of 5 major domestication genes of barley, it supported that six-row wild barley (H. agriocrithon) and Tibetan semi-wild barley originated from the wildification of cultivated barley or hybridization with wild barley, but did not support that the six-row wild barley (H. agriocrithon) is truly wild barley. Obviously, a large amount of sequencing data has answered the debate about the origin and evolution of the Tibetan Qingke barley at home and abroad.

Tibetan Qingke barley; Hordeum; Origin; Evolution; Tibet