A haplotype-resolved pangenome of the barley wild relative Hordeum bulbosum

Jia-Wu Feng; Hélène Pidon; Maria Cuacos; Thomas Lux; Axel Himmelbach; Reza Haghi; Jörg Fuchs; Georg Haberer; Yi-Tzu Kuo; Yu Guo; Murukarthick Jayakodi; Helena Toegelová; Dörte Harpke; Manuela Knauft; Anne Fiebig; Maren Maruschewski; Moshe Ronen; Amir Sharon; Hana Šimková; Klaus F X Mayer; Manuel Spannagl; Jochen Kumlehn; Stefan Heckmann; Andreas Houben; Frank R Blattner; Nils Stein; Martin Mascher

doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09270-x

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A haplotype-resolved pangenome of the barley wild relative Hordeum bulbosum

Journal article

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Peer reviewed

A haplotype-resolved pangenome of the barley wild relative Hordeum bulbosum

Jia-Wu Feng, Hélène Pidon, Maria Cuacos, Thomas Lux, Axel Himmelbach, Reza Haghi, Jörg Fuchs, Georg Haberer, Yi-Tzu Kuo, Yu Guo, …

Nature (London), Vol.645, pp.429-438

2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09270-x

PMID: 40634612

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Abstract

Wild plants can contribute valuable genes to their domesticated relatives1. Fertility barriers and a lack of genomic resources have hindered the effective use of crop–wild introgressions. Decades of research into barley’s closest wild relative, Hordeum bulbosum, a grass native to the Mediterranean basin and Western Asia, have yet to manifest themselves in the release of a cultivar bearing alien genes2. Here we construct a pangenome of bulbous barley comprising 10 phased genome sequence assemblies amounting to 32 distinct haplotypes. Autotetraploid cytotypes, among which the donors of resistance-conferring introgressions are found, arose at least twice, and are connected among each other and to diploid forms through gene flow. The differential amplification of transposable elements after barley and H. bulbosum diverged from each other is responsible for genome size differences between them. We illustrate the translational value of our resource by mapping non-host resistance to a viral pathogen to a structurally diverse multigene cluster that has been implicated in diverse immune responses in wheat and barley.

Details

Title: A haplotype-resolved pangenome of the barley wild relative Hordeum bulbosum
Authors/Creators: Jia-Wu Feng - Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) Gatersleben, Seeland, Germany
Hélène Pidon - Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung (IPK)
Maria Cuacos - Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung (IPK)
Thomas Lux - Helmholtz Zentrum München
Axel Himmelbach - Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung (IPK)
Reza Haghi - Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung (IPK)
Jörg Fuchs - Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung (IPK)
Georg Haberer - Helmholtz Zentrum München
Yi-Tzu Kuo - Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung (IPK)
Yu Guo - Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung (IPK)
Murukarthick Jayakodi - Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung (IPK)
Helena Toegelová - Tel Aviv University
Dörte Harpke - Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung (IPK)
Manuela Knauft - Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung (IPK)
Anne Fiebig - Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung (IPK)
Maren Maruschewski - Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung (IPK)
Moshe Ronen - Tel Aviv University
Amir Sharon - Tel Aviv University
Hana Šimková - Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Experimental Botany
Klaus F X Mayer - Plant (United States)
Manuel Spannagl - Murdoch University
Jochen Kumlehn - Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung (IPK)
Stefan Heckmann - Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung (IPK)
Andreas Houben - Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung (IPK)
Frank R Blattner - Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung (IPK)
Nils Stein - Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung (IPK)
Martin Mascher - Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung (IPK)
Publication Details: Nature (London), Vol.645, pp.429-438
Publisher: Springer Nature
Number of pages: 35
Identifiers: 991005794756007891
Copyright: © The Author(s) 2025, modified publication 2026
Murdoch Affiliation: Centre for Crop and Food Innovation
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Citation topics: 1 Clinical & Life Sciences; 1.54 Molecular & Cell Biology - Genetics; 1.54.1543 Flow Cytometry
Web Of Science research areas: Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
ESI research areas: Molecular Biology & Genetics