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About the Authors:
María Muñoz-Amatriaín
Contributed equally to this work with: María Muñoz-Amatriaín, Alfonso Cuesta-Marcos
Affiliation: Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, United States of America
Alfonso Cuesta-Marcos
Contributed equally to this work with: María Muñoz-Amatriaín, Alfonso Cuesta-Marcos
Affiliation: Department of Crop and Soil Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, United States of America
Jeffrey B. Endelman
Affiliation: Department of Horticulture, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
Jordi Comadran
Affiliation: The James Hutton Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee, United Kingdom
John M. Bonman
Affiliation: USDA-ARS, Small Grains and Potato Germplasm Research Unit, Aberdeen, Idaho, United States of America
Harold E. Bockelman
Affiliation: USDA-ARS, Small Grains and Potato Germplasm Research Unit, Aberdeen, Idaho, United States of America
Shiaoman Chao
Affiliation: USDA-ARS, Biosciences Research Lab, Fargo, North Dakota, United States of America
Joanne Russell
Affiliation: The James Hutton Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee, United Kingdom
Robbie Waugh
Affiliation: The James Hutton Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee, United Kingdom
Patrick M. Hayes
Affiliation: Department of Crop and Soil Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, United States of America
Gary J. Muehlbauer
* E-mail: [email protected]
Affiliations Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, United States of America, Department of Plant Biology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, United States of America
Introduction
Barley (Hordeum vulgare subsp. vulgare) was one of the first cereals that human communities of the Fertile Crescent domesticated about 10,000 years ago [1]. Barley played a key role in the establishment of the first Neolithic farming settlements and today is one of the world’s most important crops (FAOSTAT website. Available: http://faostat.fao.org). Barley is essential for the malting and brewing industries and it is an important animal feed. It also constitutes a staple food in several regions of the world due to adaptation to high altitudes, drought and soil salinity [2]. Renewed interest in food barley is derived from recent research confirming the health benefits of barley in human diets [3]–[5].
Meeting the increasing global demands for food in a time of climate change is agriculture’s greatest current challenge. Increased CO2 levels are predicted to decrease global crop yields as a consequence of overall higher temperatures. Higher temperatures, in turn, will trigger changes in precipitation, salinity, and both the...