Six-rowed spring malting barley cultivars can be identified by single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) as detected by allele-specific PCR.

Modern malting barley cultivars (Hordeum vulgare) are based on a narrow range of germplasm. As a result it is becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate among them based solely on morphological and/or biochemical characteristics. We show that a set of 15 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) is sufficient to distinguish all the 17 malting six-rowed barley cultivars grown in Canada and the United States, including several biotypes found to be present within some cultivars. The PCR conditions optimized for screening allowed discrimination between alleles of all diagnostic SNPs. Using DNA extracted from seed or leaf, the methodology is rapid, lends itself to automation, and can be used for the efficient identification and purity testing of Canadian six-rowed malting barley cultivars.