Brittle rachis is an important trait to study the domestication process in barley. Ancient farmers preferred to have non-brittle barley for cultivation, and domesticated barley lost the brittle rachis after a process of human selection. In this study, partial linkage maps in the region of non-brittle rachis genes btr1 and btr2 were constructed using two wild × cultivar F₂ populations. STS markers derived from AFLP markers e09m25-08, e30m07-09 and e50m21-01, which showed no recombination with the btr1 and btr2 loci in recombinant inbred lines (RILs), showed recombination with the btr1 and btr2 loci in the two F₂ populations. Though there were few differences in map distances, orders of the markers were highly conserved. OUH602 (wild) × Kanto Nakate Gold (cultivar) was suitable for highresolution mapping of the btr1 locus due to unambiguous phenotypes in segregating F₂ plants.