Barley (Hordeum vulgare) mutants

From 1973 year Vilnius University Botanical gardens (Lithuania, Vilnius) started to collect barley (Hordeum vulgare) mutants for genetic investigations. While inducing mutations, crossbreeding mutants scientists made and are still making many researches about heredity, breed selection, gene stability and many more. First chemically induced tw (tweeky spike) mutant was created at 1974 from Lithuanian barley species ‘Auksiniai II’. This was the start of whole ongoing collection and scientific researches. The most interesting barley mutants are homeotic, when mutation in genes causes displaced flower parts. These mutations are very rare, but very important while investigating the development of plants or how environmental factors affect the structure of flower or raceme. Another very much appreciated feature of homeotic mutants is attractiveness. As most ornamental and decorative plants’ breeds are natural homeotic mutants, when for example flower’s reproduction parts (most often stamens) are turned into petals. My works present the diversity of barley mutant hybrids, which are not only attractive as ornamental plants, but also make a great input into plant or other live organism genetic science.