Two genes have been discovered that transformed barley from a wild grass 10,000 years ago to a cereal crop that now helps feed the world.
An international team of researchers, including some at the University of Adelaide, have discovered the genetic changes that has allowed barley to become the world's fourth most important cereal crop.
Barley was one of the first crops in the world to be cultivated and farmed well before wheat, Emeritus Professor Geoff Fincher from the university's school of agriculture said.
But despite this long history, until now we've not been able to answer the important question of how wild barley shifted from dropping its grain to the ground at maturity to the grain staying in the ear, a genetic change necessary to allow efficient harvesting."
The latest research revealed the two genes that controlled the strength of the attachment point between maturing grains and the barley spike.
In wild barley the maturing grain snaps off easily allowing seeds to be dispersed and ensuring survival of the species but making the harvest of large amounts of grain virtually impossible.
Once the genetic change occurred, the attachment point lost its brittle characteristic allowing mature grains to remain attached to the head.
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