Somatic karyotype analysis in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)

Detailed somatic karyotype analysis carried out in 13 varieties of barley revealed significant intervarietal differences in total chromatin length and chromatin volume. Total chromatin length of a haploid complement ranged from 67.23 to 46.02 μm while the chromatin volume varied from 36.80 to 22.09 11m³. Somatic karyotypes, in general, carried two pairs of sat-chromosomes. The karyotypes are symmetrical, mostly with metacentric chromosomes and belong to 1A category of Stebbins. Relative length, 5–10 (relative length of shortest chromosome compared to the longest and TF% (proportion of short arms in the total chromatin length) estimations also indicate that the level of asymmetry is low in barley. Based on chromosome morphology, four chromosomes (1, 5, 6sat and 7sat) in the haploid complement can be readily identified individually. However, individual identification of the other chromosomes is somewhat difficult due to similarities in length and arm ratio.