Frost tolerance is an important breeding goal of cereal breeding in the temperate climate zone. Main emphasis of this study was to identify and characterize allelic diversity for frost tolerance in rye. Genetic variation of frost tolerance was investigated in 201 winter rye genotypes from different populations using a candidate gene-based association analysis based on three different phenotyping platforms. Significant associations between frost tolerance and DNA polymorphisms were identified in nine out of twelve candidate genes. The results of this study will help to elucidate the genetic mechanisms of frost tolerance in rye and will be instrumental in marker-assisted selection of frost tolerance.
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