Molecular Labelling Tool for Cereal Genetic Resources Management Derived from Barley and Tetraploid Wheat Genebank-Genomics Projects

Globally, 5.94 million accessions are conserved across 867 genebanks, of which 41.5% (2.47 million) are cereal crop accessions. Only a small portion of global germplasm diversity has been marker-genotyped or genome-sequenced. Accurate identification of genebank accessions is essential to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of global genebanking. It is crucial for preserving the legacy knowledge associated with the germplasm and for maintaining its value to current plant science and breeding efforts. Existing practices generally fall into two categories: either expensive and complex, or inefficient, labour-intensive, and inaccurate. The first relies on high-resolution genomic sequences or saturated markers, while the second relies on morphological comparisons of regenerated plants with historical records. We propose a genotyping method based on a minimal set of Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) markers and exemplify its use on a genebank scale. We identified a small, effective set of SNPs that can differentiate between the global diversity of genebank accessions of barley (Hordeum vulgare and Hordeum spontaneum) and tetraploid wheat collections (Triticum turgidum) maintained at the Germplasm Resources National Capability at the John Innes Centre, UK. This approach offers a straightforward, automatable, and inexpensive alternative to traditional genebank crop descriptors used during seed regeneration and distribution. By establishing the minimal genomic resolution needed to distinguish genetically distinct accessions, we show that as few as 24 and 25 carefully chosen SNP markers for barley and durum wheat, respectively, can effectively differentiate individual accessions. Unlike morphology-based identification, which can detect mislabelling or contamination but often cannot prevent or correct such errors, our SNP-based molecular labelling enables error correction and the retrieval of lost germplasm identity. This study highlights how accuracy and reliability in germplasm management can be improved without costly whole-genome sequencing or resource-intensive analysis. We discuss the impact of this method on enhancing quality assurance in genebanks and its broader usefulness for the user community.