Collection and Evaluation of Avena Fatua for Use in Oat Improvement1

Abstract

More than 2,200 samples of the wild oat (Avena fatua L.) were collected from western North Central U.S. as part of a program to preserve natural variant populations of this species and to further evaluate its potential as a germplasm source for the improvement of cultivated oats (A. sativa L.). This report summarizes the results of screening these samples for tolerance to barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV), resistance to cereal leaf beetle (Oulema melanopus L.), and resistance to oat stem rust (Puccinia graminis Pers. f. sp. avenae Eriks. and E. Henn.), plus analyses of groat protein and amino acid composition.High level tolerance to BYDV was identified in 34 of 483 samples tested. Tolerance appeared to be more frequent among samples collected in areas with a higher incidence of disease. Low level resistance to cereal leaf beetle was observed in 20 of 400 samples. The occurrence of resistance was unrelated to the incidence of the beetle. No resistance to the highly virulent race 94 of oat stem rust was identified in more than 1,600 samples tested. Groat protein levels ranging from 16.7 to 27.1% were observed among 723 A. fatua samples analyzed, whereas amino acid profiles of 70 A. fatua samples tested were similar to those reported for cultivated oats. The A. fatua collection described in this report not only provides potential new sources of BYDV tolerance and high groat protein percentage but also constitutes a valuable germplasm reservoir.