High-throughput genotyping of cereals

Correct identification of cereal variety is vital for quality assurance of goods requiring different grain attributes. In barley for example, the malting and brewing properties are variety dependent, thus sourcing the correct variety is critical to product consistency. We used Sequenom® MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry to develop a rapid, high throughput cereal identification assay capable of determining variety identity and purity with precision and speed. A comprehensive collection of Australian barley germplasms was collected and molecular markers (SNPs) specific to each variety were identified. MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry identified the variety-specific SNP by determining the mass of the polymorphic nucleotide itself. Genotype calling was precise and coupled with the ability to multiplex up to 25 reactions per well on a 384-well plate in a fully automated process, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry clearly has the potential to be a high-throughput genotyping method of choice for cereal identification.