The Use of Electrophoresis in Testing for High Diastatic Power in Barley

In crosses between barley cultivars differing in both electrophoretic pattern and diastatic power, these two characters were found to be closely related at any given level of grain nitrogen, when selected F3 and F4 lines were tested. Electrophoresis, in conjunction with the estimation of grain nitrogen content, can be used to predict diastatic power and has the advantage over other tests in being unaffected by the environment in which the plants were grown. Identification in early generations allows the character to be fixed preventing the loss of plants with high diastatic power during subsequent selection for other characters.