Sequence Polymorphisms and Phylogenetic Relationships of hina Gene in Wild Barley from Tibet, China

The hina gene encodes a HINA protein in seeds of barley (Hordeum vulgare), which was known to affect the grain hardness. 171 hina gene sequences from Tibetan wild barley accessions and worldwide were characterized. Across 1 452 nucleotides of 171 hina genes, 152 SNPs were detected, giving an average frequency of one SNP per 9.5 bases. There were 93 singleton variable sites (the nucleotide polymorphism only observed in a single accession), 59 polymorphic sites (the polymorphisms found in two or more accessions) and 8 indels. A total of 18 haplotypes were defined, and most of the barley accessions shared one gene haplotype. H. spontaneum had a wider haplotype distribution. Through the analysis of median-joining network of the 18 haplotypes, 4 haplotype groups were found, which were testified by neighbor-joining tree based on the complete sequence alignment. Extremely low level of hina gene diversity was observed in Tibetan wild barley accessions, indicating that Tibet is unlikely a center of origin for cultivated barley.