Inheritance of plant height was studied in the two dwarfing gene donors, Zhepi 1 and Aizao 3, in barley breeding in China. Using direct cross and para-back-cross methods, allelic tests were carried out not only between the dwarfing genes in Zhepi 1 and Aizao 3, but also with br, uzu, denso, or sdwl and the six novel dwarfing genes that have been recently identified in barley in China. The results showed that the plant height was attributed to Mendelian inheritance of a recessive dwarfing gene both in Zhepi 1 and Aizao 3. The dwarfing genes carried by the two cultivars were the same, but different from the three known and the six novel dwarfing genes. On the basis of the present study, only two dwarfing genes have been used in barley breeding in China since 1950.
