Variation in vegetative parameters related to the nitrogen economy of wild barley, Hordeum spontaneum, in Israel

Abstract

Hordeum spontaneum, the wild progenitor of cultivated barley, has previously been examined in various studies as a germplasm resource in breeding for grain protein content and related nutritional traits. The nitrogen content and dry weight of leaf and 'stem' (stem plus sheath) at anthesis, and the final grain size and grain protein content were measured in 33 H. spontaneum and two H. vulgare genotypes. H. spontaneum was generally higher in nitrogen content of leaves and stems, but lower in dry weight at anthesis. Consistent with previous reports, the H. spontaneum genotypes were considerably higher in grain protein than the cultivars. There was wide variation between and within populations of H. spontaneum suggesting that for breeding purposes lines combining high vegetative nitrogen content, dry weight and grain protein content can be selected. © 1988 Kluwer Academic Publishers.