VIEW ARTICLE    DOI: 10.1094/ASBCJ-49-0093

Differentiation of U.S. Malting Barley Varieties by Electrophoresis of Esterase Enzymes. Berne L. Jones and Scott Heisel, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Cereal Crops Research Unit, 501 N. Walnut St., Madison, WI 53705, and Department of Agronomy, University of Wisconsin, Madison 53706. J. Am. Soc. Brew. Chem. 49:0093, 1991.

Some barley varieties that vary widely in malting quality have morphologically identical seeds and thus cannot be readily identified in commerce. A new polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic (PAGE) method separates esterase isoenzymes of germinated whole seeds or rootlets. This method readily distinguishes the morphologically identical cultivars Robust and Morex, the most widely used six-rowed malting barleys. Whole germinated seeds of Morex and Robust contain esterase isoforms that are distinctly different, allowing ready identification of the two varieties. Some variation was found in the PAGE patterns of esterases extracted from whole germinated seeds, even with different extractions of seedlings grown from the same seed sample. This pattern variation was greatly reduced or eliminated when only the rootlets of the germinated seeds were extracted and analyzed. Rootlet patterns still allowed ready identification of the two cultivars. No environmentally induced esterase variation was found in rootlets of Robust barley. Rootlets from different Morex samples showed some esterase variability, but this may have been due to contamination. Seeds of all U.S. malting barleys tested can be differentiated, either by seed morphology or by their hordein or esterase electrophoregrams.

Keywords: Hordeum vulgare, Germination, Enzymes, Variety identification, Esterase