SELECTION OF RESISTANT GERMPLASM TO BLACK POINT USING A FIELD SCREENING TECHNIQUE

A field screening technique for assessing "resistance" to black point in barley cultivars developed at QDPI Toowoomba has been used to select resistant germplasm from Australian breeding programs. Elite barley lines from WA, NSW, Qld, Tasmania, SA and Victoria, three doubled haploid populations (Arapiles/Franklin, Chebec/Harrington and Winnipeg/Lindwall), and some commercial and overseas barley cultivars were grown in a controlled environmental tunnel. Ground and overhead mist irrigation at flowering was used to maintain a high humidity. Barley lines and cultivars were grown in a replicated trial in a row column design over the period of June to November 2002 at Hermitage Research Station, Warwick. Tallon and Schooner, susceptible cultivars, were planted across the tunnel and used as controls. Heads were harvested at physiological maturity, threshed, scored visually for black point and analysed using REML. Results to date indicate that crosses between Japanese cultivars (Kino Nijo 7, Nasu Nijo) and Canadian lines (TR 232, TR118) had similar levels of resistance to black point as that found in the resistant cultivar, Harrington. Elite lines from all barley breeding programs exhibited a wide range of susceptibility to black point with some genotypes showing resistance similar to that possessed by Harrington.