Oat Accessions Research Articles

The genetic diversity and population structure of wild and cultivated Avena species in Ethiopia using a SSR markers

Oats are grains that can be consumed by both animals and humans. They have thrived in Ethiopia, where certain oat species are considered native to the region. This work represents the first investigation of the population structure and genetic diversity of Ethiopian and other country oats. This led the scientists to explore the genetic diversity and population structure of wild and cultivated Ethiopian oats (Avena) species as well as oat cultivated in USA, the Netherlands and Austria. This study's main objective looks to be to investigate the variation in genetic makeup of cultivated and wild oat species. Studying the population structure of the oat species in the germplasm of Ethiopia, USA, the Netherlands and Austria. We used nineteen fluorescent SSR (simple sequence repeat) markers since previous research had indicated that these markers had high PIC (polymorphism information content) values. Five species of Avena were studied among the 176 oat accessions: A. sativa (cultivated oats) and four wild oats, such as A. abyssinica, A. vaviloviana, A. fatua, and A. sterilis. The AMOVA investigation revealed significant genetic distinctions among populations, individuals, and within individuals, explaining 18 % of the variance within populations, 4 % among populations, and 78 % within individuals. The AMOVA analysis of Avena species demonstrated extensive variance, with 33 % variation among species and 67 % within each species, underscoring robust species differentiation. The study also discovered gene interchange between wild oat and cultivated populations, defining two Avena species: domesticated oats and wild oats. Using the STRUCTURE software at K = 2, PCoA, and UPGMA, a distinct genetic structure was displayed in the dataset. Despite variations in ploidy levels and genomes, A. sterilis and A. vaviloviana were determined to be more closely linked, whereas A. abyssinica and A. fatua demonstrated a close association. This research delivers valuable insights for scientists and can be employed in oat breeding programs to improve future oat yield and productivity.

Evaluation of oat accessions from different ecological groups in the steppe environments of Krasnodar Territory

Background. Studying genetic diversity and identifying sources of valuable agronomic traits for specific environmental conditions is of great importance for plant breeders when they select source material for crop improvement. Materials and methods. Three hundred and seven oat accessions of various ecogeographic origin were tested under the conditions of the Kuban Experiment Station, a branch of the N.I. Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources (VIR), in 2014–2019. Cv. ‘Valdin 765’ served as the reference. Weather conditions across the years of the study were contrasting in terms of the hydrothermal regime. Results. The inter-cultivar and year-to-year variability of the oat collection was analyzed in Krasnodar Territory and accessions promising for breeding were identified for a set of useful agronomic traits. The most significant differences among the studied oat accessions were recorded for the time of ripening and panicle characteristics. High yield of an accession under the conditions of Krasnodar Territory was associated with its high 1000 grain weight, which positively correlated with the duration of the period from panicle emergence to ripening and negatively with the length of the panicle, number of grains per panicle, plant height, and duration of the periods from germination to panicle emergence and from germination to ripening. Conclusion. The study of useful agronomic traits resulted in identifying oat accessions with the yield exceeding the reference (cv. ‘Valdin 765’) by 114–135%, that ripened 6–8 days earlier than the reference, were resistant to lodging, had short stems, manifested combined resistance (9 points) to crown and stem rust, low filminess (< 25%), good leafiness, high oil content (> 6%), increased protein content (> 14%), and high levels of yield structure components.

Development of methodological approaches to assessing the technological properties of oat grain

The range of methods for assessing the quality of grain and its technological properties in cereal crops, of oat in particular, is extremely limited. The available methods are labor-intensive and not always sufficiently informative. The variety of modern processing methods dictates the necessity in searching for more universal and informative assessment methods. Cereal crop breeding also requires high-speed and low-cost methods for assessing grain quality. The present work is a methodological study that uses a limited set oat accessions from the genetic collection of VIR, differing by geographical origin and contrasting technological properties, with an aim of developing a new grain quality assessment method and testing new methods for analyzing technological properties. The resulting criteria are compared with each other and with more traditional indicators. New systems for assessing the technological properties of grain of naked and covered oat have been proposed. A new method of sedimentation analysis for cereal crops is proposed. The diversity of the oat protein complex is exemplified in the results of sedimentation analysis, and of the carbohydrate complex – in the results of its testing by a micro-visco-amylograph. The variety of interactions between oat grain storage substances and wheat material during joint processing is shown by assessing the rheological properties of the dough mixture using a farinograph. The obtained results can be recommended for the assessment for breeding purposes, as well as for obtaining complete information about the quality of oat grain for the purpose of its further processing.

Resistance to powdery mildew in Irish oat heritage lines

Cereal breeding in Ireland took place in the early twentieth Century to establish native Irish oat cultivars with higher grain yields. However, the production of Irish cultivars declined rapidly from 1973 as the import of international, commercially bred oat cultivars increased which were tested for suitability to Irish climatic conditions. A collection of these heritage oat accessions has been maintained by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM). In this study, we investigated a collection of heritage oats for possible resistance to powdery mildew caused by the fungal pathogen Blumeria graminis f. sp. avenae (Bga). We identified Bga resistance in two historical oat accessions (Tyrone 1994 and Sandy). This resistance was mediated by high levels of papillae formation and/or encasements to an Irish single spore isolate. However, intermediate resistance was observed when using a range of Bga isolates.

Evaluation of aluminum tolerance diversity in Avena sativa L. from the VIR collection

Background. Oat is an important food and feed cereal crop in Russia. The area under oats is 10 million ha worldwide, and 3 million ha in Russia. Acid soils with excessive content of exchangeable aluminum occupy almost every third hectare in the exUSSR territory. Oats are relatively resistant to unfavorable soil factors. Among cereal crops, oat is second only to rye and triticale in terms of resistance to exchangeable Al forms. Despite the crop’s high environmental plasticity, an important condition for obtaining sustainable oat yields is the development of new cultivars with resistance to adverse environmental factors, including metal toxicity and high soil acidity.The objective of this work was to search for oat cultivars resistant to soil stressors (excess of Н+ and Al3+) for use in breeding for edaphic resistance.Materials and methods. The research material included 687 oat accessions from the VIR global plant genetic resources collection. The accessions underwent laboratory evaluation of their aluminum tolerance at the initial growth and development stages using the method of measuring radicle growth after the exposure to aluminum stress. Reproducibility of the used modification of the method was mathematically proved.Results and discussion. Significant variation in the resistance to the studied stressor was observed among the accessions. The regions acting as sources of valuable aluminum resistance genes were identified for the crop. The accessions selected for their high resistance to exchangeable aluminum can be used in breeding programs to develop high-yielding oat cultivars with edaphic resistance.

Genome-Wide Association Study Uncovers Genomic Regions Associated with Coleoptile Length in a Worldwide Collection of Oat.

The length of coleoptile is crucial for determining the sowing depth of oats in low-precipitation regions, which is significant for oat breeding programs. In this study, a diverse panel of 243 oat accessions was used to explore coleoptile length in two independent experiments. The panel exhibited significant variation in coleoptile length, ranging from 4.66 to 8.76 cm. Accessions from Africa, America, and the Mediterranean region displayed longer coleoptile lengths than those from Asia and Europe. Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) using 26,196 SNPs identified 34 SNPs, representing 32 quantitative trait loci (QTLs) significantly associated with coleoptile length. Among these QTLs, six were consistently detected in both experiments, explaining 6.43% to 10.07% of the phenotypic variation. The favorable alleles at these stable loci additively increased coleoptile length, offering insights for pyramid breeding. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis of the 350 candidate genes underlying the six stable QTLs revealed significant enrichment in cell development-related processes. Several phytochrome-related genes, including auxin transporter-like protein 1 and cytochrome P450 proteins, were found within these QTLs. Further validation of these loci will enhance our understanding of coleoptile length regulation. This study provides new insights into the genetic architecture of coleoptile length in oats.

Molecular characterization of oats (Avena sativa L.) diversity: Implications for dual-purpose breeding

Oat (Avena sativa L.) is one of the world's healthiest and gluten-free grains that are packed with essential vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants. It is also one of the most important cereal fodder crops. The present study was conducted from 2016 to 2018 and morphological and molecular diversity was analyzed for dual-purpose oat based on ten fodder and eight grain traits among 96 oats accessions including four wild accessions (A. vavilioviana, Guiena oats, A. maroccana and A. sterilis) collected from various eco-geographical regions of India. Thirty-one out of one hundred seventy (18%) simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers detected polymorphism among the 96 oat accessions with average polymorphic information content (PIC) of 0.47. A total of 100 alleles were detected with an average of 3.2 alleles per primer. The molecular diversity analysis grouped all the 96 germplasm lines into two major clusters, ?A? and ?B?. The similarity coefficients ranged from 0.37 to 1. The genotypic pairs viz; UPO 276: SKO 315 (46%); SKO 314: OL-125 (46%); SKO 314: OS 363 (49%); SKO 314: UPO 032 (49%) exhibited least genetic similarity and these pairs can be potentially used as parents to conduct various mapping studies and further contributing to the oat breeding community. Moreover, 6 accessions (JHO-2001-1, JHO-99-2, OL 1635, SKO 27, UPO 093 and OS329) had been identified which were superior to OL-10 (best check in the northwest India) for fodder as well as grain yield. This study showed the opportunity of utilizing SSR markers with morphological characteristics to breed for dual purpose oats.

Genotypic variation of adaptive and yield component traits of introduced grain oats (Avena sativa L.) grown in Bangladesh

Oat (Avena sativa L.) is considered a nutritious cereal. Its demand has surged across the globe steadily for half a decade, including in Bangladesh. Because there is no local variety, the current supply in Bangladesh solely relies on imports. This study aimed to introduce grain oats from the United States of America (U.S.A.) to Bangladesh and determine the extent of their adaptability and yield in this new environment. One hundred oat accessions were introduced in collaboration between North South University, Bangladesh and the University of Florida, U.S.A. They were evaluated in field conditions from November 2019 to April 2020 in the Dinajpur district, Bangladesh in two replicated measurements of 13 morphological traits with RCBD design. The broad-sense heritability ranged from 11.7% to 90.0% for the measured traits. The yield-related trait, spikelet numbers, was positively correlated with height (0.30), dry weight (0.46), and harvest index (0.42) but negatively correlated with heading (-0.05), flowering date (-0.05), and tiller numbers (-0.16). Growth habit was negatively correlated with height (-0.07) and dry weight (-0.25). Principal components 1 and 2 explained 43.01% of the variability and were strongly influenced by heading and flowering date. Cluster analysis assigned the genotypes into six main clusters, and the analysis showed that spikelet numbers, growth habit, height, harvest index, and heading date were key yield-contributing and adaptive traits. Identifying traits highly correlated with oat yield could be useful for developing new varieties adapted to Bangladesh environments. This study is a pioneer; it paved the way to breed new high-yielding grain oat varieties for Bangladesh

Dissecting the genetic basis of grain weight and size in common oat by genome-wide association study

Grain weight and size are critical traits that determine oat yield and quality yet our understanding of the genetic variability and molecular mechanisms underlying these characteristics in oat remains limited. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted an extensive study on 319 oat accessions, measuring four key grain size-related traits, including thousand grain weight (TGW), grain length (GL), grain width (GW), and grain perimeter (GP) across four field trials in Chengdu, Southwest China. Within in this panel, we uncovered highly heritable variation in the aforementioned grain trait. Modern cultivars displayed elevated mean values in TGW and GW, underscoring the impact of breeding on these traits. Hulless oats exhibited inferior grain characteristics compared to the de-hulled hulled oats. Genome-wide association study identified 18 loci that were significantly associated with these traits across multiple environments. Of them, three SNPs, S1A_17559296, S7D_305063624, and S1C_38047438 were associated with various traits. The superior alleles of these stable loci additively increased TGW and grain size, providing guidance for pyramiding breeding. Candidate genes associated with ubiquitin pathway, cell division and differentiation were identified for some of the associated SNPs. Further validation of these loci will help to understand their roles in the regulation of grain size.

Multi-Trait Selection of Quinoa Ideotypes at Different Levels of Cutting and Spacing

Climate change has affected the food supply chain and raised serious food concerns for humans and animals worldwide. The present investigation aimed to assess the effect of environmental factors along with three different levels of cutting (i.e., cutting 1, 2, and 3 at the vegetative, budding, and flowering stages, respectively) and spacing (i.e., 21, 23, and 26 cm) on quinoa biomass and quality to select the most suitable accessions. This experiment was repeated for two years using a split–split plot experimental design. The cutting × genotype × year and cutting × space × genotype interactions were significant for most quinoa morphological traits (except for leaf area and intermodal distance), where the maximum growth in number of leaves/plant (NoL), plant height (PH), fresh weight (FW), number of branches/plant (Br), and dry weight (DW) were observed during the second growing season. Cutting and spacing levels also showed significant effects on morphological and quality traits of quinoa. Among the different levels of cutting and spacing, cutting level 3 and spacing level 2 were more effective across both years at gaining maximum biomass and quality traits such as crude fat (CF) and crude protein (CP). According to the MGIDI, only two accessions (R3 and R9) fared better in both growing seasons, and selected accessions had positive morphological and quality traits. There were moderately significant negative correlations between PH, NoL, LA, FW, and DW and anti-quality traits such as neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF), indicating that an increase in biomass decreased the concentrations of ADF and NDF in both stem and leaves. A comparison with oat accessions (G3 and G7) revealed that quinoa has higher CP and CF and lower NDF than oats in both stems and leaves (except for ADF). In conclusion, the combination of cutting level 3 and spacing level 2 (23 cm) is more suitable to obtain high-quality quinoa forage with maximum biomass production. Furthermore, the MGIDI is a useful tool for breeders to select genotypes based on their mean performance, stability, and desired traits.

Exploitation of exotic germplasm through multivariate analysis for genetic improvement of fodder yield related traits in oat

A set of exotic germplasm accessions of oat (Avena sativa L.) was investigated for principal component analysis, cluster analysis, and box plot analysis during the two Rabi seasons. Analysis of variance for all traits under study showed sufficient amount of genetic variability, which revealed that all genotypes significantly different from each other. Three principal component analyses had Eigen values more than one and explained about 65.77% of the total variation. The first principal component explained about 35.56% of total variation followed by second (18.01%) and third (12.20%) principal components. Clustering analysis based on various morphological traits assorted 28 genotypes into five clusters. Cluster I had the highest number of genotypes (23) followed by cluster III which consists of two genotypes. The clusters II, IV and V contained only single genotype each. Data frequency distribution using box plot analysis for green fodder yield and its attributing traits revealed that huge amount of variation was present in exotic germplasm accessions under study. Further testing of these exotic germplasm accessions for fodder traits will be very useful in future breeding programmes to enhance fodder yield in oat.

The collection of oat genetic resources held by VIr as a source of information on the history of cultivation and taxonomy of the genus, and breeding trends (a review)

Oat is one of the leading cereals cultivated in the world and in Russia; it has an important fodder and nutritional value. To preserve the entire crop agrobiodiversity worldwide, there is a network of genebanks that hold more than 200,000 oat accessions. International and national genebanks are located in all the world’s countries, but one of the largest oat collections is located in Russia.The global collection of the genus Avena L. (Oats) at the N.I. Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources (VIR) is one of the largest worldwide and consists of over 13,000 accessions. The collection preserves and maintains live accessions of all cultivated oat species: A. sativa L., A. byzantina K. Koch, A. strigosa Schreb. and A. abyssinica Hochst., landraces, breeding lines, spring and winter forms, covered and naked genotypes, and all geographic diversity of 22 wild Avena spp. from 50 countries. This review provides historical background of the collection of cultivated and wild oat species, and who were the main donors of these holdings. The taxonomic system of the genus is briefly presented, which is used as a tool for efficient work and guaranteed safe preservation of accessions. Most of the cultivars developed in Russia have in their pedigree accessions obtained from the global collection of VIR. The passport database contains detailed information about all accessions of the collection, which makes it possible to improve the work with the oat collection, including safe preservation of accessions and their effective evaluation and use as source material for breeding in the leading breeding centers of Russia.Thus, the global oat collection at VIR has factual and potential value for the sustainable development of environmentally friendly agriculture, efficient processing of agricultural products, and production of safe and high-quality food products, including functional foods.

Utilizing Genomics to Characterize the Common Oat Gene Pool—The Story of More Than a Century of Polish Breeding

This study was undertaken to investigate the diversity and population structure of 487 oat accessions, including breeding lines from the ongoing programs of the three largest Polish breeding companies, along with modern and historical Polish and foreign cultivars. The analysis was based on 7411 DArTseq-derived SNPs distributed among three sub-genomes (A, C, and D). The heterogeneity of the studied material was very low, as only cultivars and advanced breeding lines were examined. Principal component analysis (PCA), principal coordinate analysis (PCoA), and cluster and STRUCTURE analyses found congruent results, which show that most of the examined cultivars and materials from Polish breeding programs formed major gene pools, that only some accessions derived from Strzelce Plant Breeding, and that foreign cultivars were outside of the main group. During the 120 year oat breeding process, only 67 alleles from the old gene pool were lost and replaced by 67 new alleles. The obtained results indicate that no erosion of genetic diversity was observed within the Polish native oat gene pool. Moreover, current oat breeding programs have introduced 673 new alleles into the gene pool relative to historical cultivars. The analysis also showed that most of the changes in relation to historical cultivars occurred within the A sub-genome with emphasis on chromosome 6A. The targeted changes were the rarest in the C sub-genome. This study showed that Polish oat breeding based mainly on traditional breeding methods-although focused on improving traits typical to this crop, i.e., enhancing the grain yield and quality and improving adaptability-did not significantly narrow the oat gene pool and in fact produced cultivars that are not only competitive in the European market but are also reservoirs of new alleles that were not found in the analyzed foreign materials.

Genome-Wide Association Mapping of QTL Underlying Groat Protein Content of a Diverse Panel of Oat Accessions

Groat protein content (GPC) is a key quality trait attribute in oat. Understanding the variation of GPC in oat germplasms and identifying genomic regions associated with GPC are essential for improving this trait. In this study, the GPC of 174 diverse oat accessions was evaluated in three field trials. The results showed a wide variation in GPC, ranging from 6.97% to 22.24% in this panel. Hulless oats displayed a significantly higher GPC compared to hulled oats across all environments. A GWAS analysis was performed based on 38,313 high-quality SNPs, which detected 27 non-redundant QTLs with 41 SNPs significantly associated with GPC. Two QTLs on chromosome 6C (QTL16) and 4D (QTL11) were consistently detected in multiple environments, with QTL16 being the most significant and explaining the highest proportion of the phenotypical variation in all tested environments except in CZ20. Haplotype analysis showed that the favorable haplotypes for GPC are more prevalent in hulless oats. These findings provide a foundation for future efforts to incorporate favorable alleles into new cultivars through introgression, fine mapping, and cloning of promising QTLs.

Genome resequencing reveals independent domestication and breeding improvement of naked oat.

As an important cereal crop, common oat, has attracted more and more attention due to its healthy nutritional components and bioactive compounds. Here, high-depth resequencing of 115 oat accessions and closely related hexaploid species worldwide was performed. Based on genetic diversity and linkage disequilibrium analysis, it was found that hulled oat (Avena sativa) experienced a more severe bottleneck than naked oat (Avena sativa var. nuda). Combined with the divergence time of ∼51,200 years ago, the previous speculation that naked oat was a variant of hulled oat was rejected. It was found that the common segments that hulled oat introgressed to naked oat cultivars contained 444 genes, mainly enriched in photosynthetic efficiency-related pathways. Selective sweeps during environmental adaptation and breeding improvement were identified in the naked oat genome. Candidate genes associated with smut resistance and the days to maturity phenotype were also identified. Our study provides genomic resources and new insights into naked oat domestication and breeding.

Evaluating Germplasm of Cultivated Oat Species from the VIR Collection under the Russian Northwest Conditions.

Oat is one of the most widespread and important cereal crops in the global agricultural production. Searching for new high-yielding and nutritious forms continues to be relevant, especially under the global trend of climate change, when most local oat cultivars may become economically inefficient. Spring oat accessions from VIR collection served as the material for this study; their origin is diverse, as they came from 11 countries. The basic nutritional value (the content of protein, oil, starch, and β-glucans) and characters important for breeding (plant height, panicle length, number of spikelets, number of grains per panicle, 1000 grain weight, and grain yield) were analyzed in 49 accessions of the cultivated covered oat species: Avena sativa L., A. strigosa Schreb., A. abyssinica Hochst., and A. byzantina Coch., grown under the conditions of the Russian Northwest (Leningrad Province) for two years. Variability parameters, interspecific and intervarietal differences, and the effect of weather conditions were assessed. Sources of useful agronomic traits were identified; they can be used to expand the range of the source material for the development of new high-yielding and highly nutritious oat cultivars adapted to local cultivation conditions. It is demonstrated that the VIR collection has a great potential for contemporary food and feed production and for the breeding of new oat cultivars for various purposes. Thus, the contribution of Nikolai Vavilov to the plant genetic resources investigation for the benefit of humanity is invaluable.

Aluminum tolerance and micronutrient content in the grain of oat cultivars with different levels of breeding improvement from the VIR collection

Background. Soil toxicity of Al is associated with severe changes in plant root morphology that limit the uptake of water and mineral nutrients. Long-term exposure to Al results in deficiencies in some important nutrients, such as phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and iron. Thus, the joint study of plant resistance to the effects of Al and the accumulation of micronutrients in the oat grain is relevant.Materials and methods. Thirty oat accessions of Russian and French origin from the VIR collection served as the research material. They were represented by cultivars with different levels of breeding improvement: landraces (early 1920s), cultivars developed by primitive breeding (1920–1930s), and modern improved cultivars.Results. Oat cultivars with different breeding improvement levels demonstrated significant differences in the content of micronutrients and aluminum tolerance. Among the studied accessions, landraces and modern improved cultivars showed a tendency towards medium or high Al tolerance, the group of primitive cultivars from Russia had the lowest Al tolerance, while primitive cultivars from France demonstrated the highest average resistance (0.5–1.9).Conclusion. The content of Fe and Zn was influenced by the geographic origin of genotypes. The concentrations of different micronutrients positively correlated with each other. Strong correlations were recorded between the contents of Zn and Fe (r = 0.81), and between Zn and Mg (r = 0.75). There was a positive correlation between the content of micronutrients and the resistance to crown rust (0.38 to 0.50). High content of the studied set of micronutrients was registered in such improved cultivars from France as the naked ‘Avoine Nue Renne’, ‘Chantilly’, ‘Negrita’ and ‘Noire de Michamps’, plus the Russian improved naked cultivar ‘Gavrosh’. Among them, ‘Chantilly’ was distinguished for its yield, and the naked ‘Gavrosh ‘for its high tolerance to aluminum.

Evaluation of oat accessions for different agronomic traits under agro-climatic conditions of narc Islamabad

Oat is one of the most commonly planted forages and a significant component of crop rotation in a farming system. Keeping in view the importance of oat crop, seven oat accessions were evaluated at National Agriculture Research Center, Islamabad during Rabi season 2020-21. Randomized complete block design with three replications with row to row distance 30 cm was maintained for sowing the aforementioned oat accessions. Significant variation was observed for all the studied traits except plant height and leaves tiller-1. Highest mean values were observed for Jasper and Local Saryab for number of tillers plant-1 whereas Jasper was found to have maximum values for leaf area tiller-1 and leaf area index as well. Maximum flag leaf area was displayed by accession PP2-LV65 while the highest plant height was achieved by accession Local DIK. Maximum leaves tiller-1 was exhibited by S. 2000 while Local T.Jam achieved maximum green fodder yield and maximum dry matter yield t/ha. On the basis of high values for green fodder and dry matter yield Local T.Jam can be used for onward use for variety development.

Adaptive potential of oat accessions in the context of their chemical and physical grain characteristics

Providing high and stable grain harvests with high content of valuable compounds in grain is an important task of crop production. The aim of the study was to assess the adaptability of oat accessions through the analysis of their chemical and physical properties and disclose relationships among adaptability indicators based on these characteristics.Eighteen oat accessions from the VIR collection, grown for 3 years in Eastern Siberia, were assessed. The content of β-glucans and oil, 1000 grain weight, and test weight were analyzed. Four adaptability indicators were measured for the aforesaid characters.Plasticity and stability parameters of the accessions showed no significant differences between the naked and hulled oat forms. Cvs. ‘Sapsan’ (k-15444) and ‘Aldan’ (k-15115) demonstrated the best adaptability in the content of β-glucans in grain, ‘Sayan’ (k-14043) and ‘Vyatsky’ (k-14960) in oil content, ‘Korifey’ (k-15113) and ‘Taidon’ (k-15183) in 1000 grain weight, and ‘Korifey’ and ‘Gosha’ (к-15120) in their test weight. Among the naked oat accessions, significant relationships were recorded between the adaptability indicators of the content of β-glucans or oil in grain and those of the test weight as well as between the average 1000 grain weight of the accessions and the parameters of their plasticity (negative correlations) or stability (positive correlations) for the said physical character.There is a high risk of obtaining hulled oats with reduced levels of oil in their grain, when selected for high stability for this character. It is assumed that successful oat breeding for increased adaptability in 1000 grain weight will be accompanied by an increase in grain size. The possibility of indirect estimation of the adaptability of naked oat accessions according to their β-glucan or oil content is shown on the basis of calculating their adaptability according to the test weight of their grain.

Assessment of oat varieties with different levels of breeding refinement from the Vavilov Institute’s collection applying the method of metabolomic profiling

Metabolomic profiling data obtained through gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry are presented. Thirty oat accessions from the collection of the N.I. Vavilov Institute of Plant Genetic resources (VIR) served as the material for the research. Those accessions of Russian and French origin showed different degrees of breeding refinement: from local landraces (the early 1920s) and primitive cultigens (1920–1930s) to modern improved cultivars. Twenty-seven hulled and three naked oat varieties were selected for the study.The main objective of the work was to identify differences among common oat varieties with different degrees of breeding refinement at the level of metabolomic profiles. The resulting data reflected the metabolic state of oat genotypes with different ecogeographic backgrounds. They were compared to assess the content of main metabolite groups important for the formation of the crop’s stress resistance traits as well as nutritional, medicinal and dietary properties of oat grain products. The most informative indicators were identified (fucosterol, chiro-inositol, xylitol; undecylic, threonic, glutamic, ribonic and phosphoric acids; sorbose, fructose, glucose-3-phosphate, and myo-inositol), which helped to make statistically significant differentiation among oat accessions of different origin with various degrees of breeding refinement. Comparing metabolomic profiles of different oat variety groups (landraces, primitive cultigens, and modern cultivars, developed by Russian and French breeders) mirrored distinctive features of the trends followed by different plant breeding schools.This study showed that breeding efforts to improve biochemical indicators in oat grain would require the use of the genetic diversity found in landraces and primitive cultigens collected or developed in the 1920–1930s. This diversity is still preserved and maintained in the global germplasm collection at VIR.