Global genomic analysis reveals structured redundancy and complementarity in ex situ barley conservation
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Ex situ genebanks conserve millions of crop accessions, yet the genomic complementarity and redundancy of parallel conservation systems within and across institutional boundaries remain poorly quantified. We integrated genotyping-by-sequencing data from 36,853 barley accessions maintained in 14 national and international genebanks to construct a global genomic atlas of ex situ diversity. Major germplasm groups were broadly represented across collections, and genome-wide differentiation between genebanks was low, indicating that global barley diversity forms a largely continuous genomic landscape spanning repositories. Identity-by-state clustering revealed extensive but structured redundancy: at a 99% similarity threshold, 60% of accessions grouped into clusters of highly similar genotypes frequently spanning multiple genebanks. Rarefaction analyses showed diminishing returns of additional sampling, with newly genotyped accessions increasingly belonging to clusters already present in the dataset. Although localized genomic differentiation was detectable in specific regions, collections shared a largely common genomic structure. Together, these results demonstrate that barley genebanks form an interconnected conservation system characterized by widespread overlap but structured diversity representation.
Source: Research Square
Authors: Martin Mascher, Max Haupt, Paulina Bolc, Matilda Ciucă, Daniel Cristina, Gouripriya Davuluri, Anne Fiebig, Mika Hamaoka, Axel Himmelbach, Martina Hudcovicová, Patrick König, Sylwia Kowalik, Leona Leišová-Svobodová, Isaura Martin, Zdeněk Nesvadba, Nikolay Neykov, Katarína Ondreičková, Eugen-Iulian Petcu, Aleksandra Pietrusińska-Radzio, Marta Puchta-Jasińska, Moshe Ronen, Danuta Schüler, Marta Zavřelová, Maja Boczkowska, Andreas Börner, Andras Cseh, Wouter Groenink, René Hauptvogel, Pavol Hauptvogel, Vojtěch Holubec, Matthias Lange, Jochen Reif, Magdalena Ruiz, Kazuhiro Sato, Amir Sharon, Liliana Vasilescu, Stephan Weise, Nils Stein
Institutions: Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung (IPK), Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute - National Research Institute, Okayama University, Institute of Plant Science and Resources, Okayama University, National Agricultural and Food Centre, Czech Agrifood Research Center, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria, Centro de Recursos Fitogenéticos y Agricultura Sostenible, Agricultural Academy, Tel Aviv University, Agrotest Fyto (Czechia), HUN-REN Centre for Agricultural Research, Agricultural Institute, Wageningen University & Research, National Agricultural Research and Development Institute
Language: English
Subfield: Plant Science
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7204747185