Exploring barley mutant and germplasm collections for plant architecture genes and alleles Presenting author: Laura Rossini, University of Milan, Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (DiSAA), Via Celoria 2, 20133 Milan, Italy Laura.rossini@unimi.it Plant architecture traits play a fundamental role in plant fitness and adaptation. Breeders leverage variation in architectural features to select crops with improved performance under changing environments and agricultural practices. As a Neolithic founder crop now cultivated for different end uses across a wide ecogeographical range from Boreal regions to Tibet and sub-desertic areas in Africa, barley exhibits striking adaptability and genetic diversity. Further expanding barley germplasm diversity and taking advantage of its diploid genome, extensive mutant collections have been obtained through large scale mutagenesis programmes, establishing barley as a model for genetics and genomics of the Triticeae tribe. Research in our group builds upon these resources to identify and characterize genes and alleles shaping plant architecture traits, such as branching, culm morphology, leaf size and angle. In this talk I will illustrate current progress through selected case studies.