Sami Jan, M. N. Khan, M. Ashraf Bhat, M. Altaf Wani, Farooq Ahmad Bhat, Raihana Habib Kanth
Barley is one of the world’s most significant crops, providing millions of people with food and related products. A crop with a huge genome, as well as a vast number of varieties and accessions, is extremely rare. Systematic molecular evaluation is required for both effective utilization of available diversity in breeding and appropriate genetic diversity conservation. Despite the use of fungicides and resistant types, diseases continue to pose a severe danger to barley production. Barley is an important cereal grain that is not widely consumed by children. It’s an old grain with a long list of health benefits, including weight loss, lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, lower blood glucose in Type 2 diabetes, and prevention of colon cancer. Due to the ongoing crossing with elite genotypes, genetic variability is diminishing day by day, potentially increasing vulnerability to adverse climatic changes and limiting the potential for further improvement. Morphological indicators, biochemical or isozyme markers, and DNA-based markers are all used to determine genetic diversity. For genotyping in various crops, a large range of molecular markers is available. Due to their ease of application, abundance, co-dominance, low cost, and high polymorphism index, SSR markers are potential markers of choice for diversity assessment