Oat Varieties Research Articles

Analysis of oat seed transcriptome with regards to proteins involved in celiac disease

Oat (Avena sativa L.) is considered to be a healthy food. In contrast to other grain crops, oat is high in protein, lipids, dietary fiber, antioxidants, and uniquely in avenanthramides. The question of whether it can also be consumed by people suffering from celiac disease is still unresolved. The main aim of this study was to extract and sequence genes for potentially harmful avenins, globulins, and α-amylase/trypsin inhibitors in six oat varieties and to establish their variability using PacBio sequencing technology of enriched libraries. The results were compared with sequences of the genes already present in databases. In total, 21 avenin, 75 globulin, and 25 α-amylase/trypsin inhibitor genes were identified and mapped in the hexaploid oat chromosomes. In all of the three gene families, only marginal sequence differences were found between the oat varieties within the individual genes. Avenin epitopes were found in all four types of avenin genes occurring in all oat varieties tested within this study. However, the number of avenin genes was nearly four times lower than of globulin genes and, on the protein level, formed only 10% of storage proteins. Therefore, the question of whether oat is safe to celiac disease people is a question of boundary values.

Genome analysis in Avena sativa reveals hidden breeding barriers and opportunities for oat improvement

Oat (Avena sativa L.) is an important and nutritious cereal crop, and there is a growing need to identify genes that contribute to improved oat varieties. Here we utilize a newly sequenced and annotated oat reference genome to locate and characterize quantitative trait loci (QTLs) affecting agronomic and grain-quality traits in five oat populations. We find strong and significant associations between the positions of candidate genes and QTL that affect heading date, as well as those that influence the concentrations of oil and β-glucan in the grain. We examine genome-wide recombination profiles to confirm the presence of a large, unbalanced translocation from chromosome 1 C to 1 A, and a possible inversion on chromosome 7D. Such chromosome rearrangements appear to be common in oat, where they cause pseudo-linkage and recombination suppression, affecting the segregation, localization, and deployment of QTLs in breeding programs.

Different Resistance to DON versus HT2 + T2 Producers in Nordic Oat Varieties.

Over recent decades, the Norwegian cereal industry has had major practical and financial challenges associated with the occurrence of Fusarium head blight (FHB) pathogens and their associated mycotoxins in cereal grains. Deoxynivalenol (DON) is one of the most common Fusarium-mycotoxins in Norwegian oats, however T-2 toxin (T2) and HT-2 toxin (HT2) are also commonly detected. The aim of our study was to rank Nordic spring oat varieties and breeding lines by content of the most commonly occurring Fusarium mycotoxins (DON and HT2 + T2) as well as by the DNA content of their respective producers. We analyzed the content of mycotoxins and DNA of seven fungal species belonging to the FHB disease complex in grains of Nordic oat varieties and breeding lines harvested from oat field trials located in the main cereal cultivating district in South-East Norway in the years 2011–2020. Oat grains harvested from varieties with a high FHB resistance contained on average half the levels of mycotoxins compared with the most susceptible varieties, which implies that choice of variety may indeed impact on mycotoxin risk. The ranking of oat varieties according to HT2 + T2 levels corresponded with the ranking according to the DNA levels of Fusarium langsethiae, but differed from the ranking according to DON and Fusarium graminearum DNA. Separate tests are therefore necessary to determine the resistance towards HT2 + T2 and DON producers in oats. This creates practical challenges for the screening of FHB resistance in oats as today’s screening focuses on resistance to F. graminearum and DON. We identified oat varieties with generally low levels of both mycotoxins and FHB pathogens which should be preferred to mitigate mycotoxin risk in Norwegian oats.

Exploring the relationships between biomass production, nutrient acquisition, and phenotypic traits: testing oat genotypes as a cover crop

High biomass and nutrient acquisition are desirable for oat (Avena sativa L.) as a cover crop. However, our understanding of oat genotypes suitable for cover crops and associated traits is limited. The objectives of this experiment on growing oat as a cover crop, after winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) harvest, were to determine biomass production, nutrient uptake of a set of oat genotypes, and to identify phenotypic traits that can be used as indicators to select cultivars suitable for cover crops. The results showed that the top biomass-producing genotypes took up larger amounts of soil nutrients, up to 142 kg N ha−1 and 17 kg P ha−1 in 2016, and 43.5 kg N ha−1 and 8.3 kg P ha−1 in 2017. The biomass production was significantly related to plant height and leaf area index (LAI) in both years, and to the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in 2017. Both NDVI and LAI were closely related to the total amounts of N and P uptake. The poor association between biomass and NDVI in 2016 was due to vigorous growth of volunteer wheat and weeds as well as severe rust (Puccinia coronata f. sp. avenae Eriks.) infestation. Our results suggest that it is important to choose oat varieties as cover crops. Leaf area index can be used as a nondestructive indicator for final biomass and nutrient acquisition, while both NDVI and LAI are important traits for choosing oats as soil conservation cover crops.

Physiological and Transcription Analyses Reveal the Regulatory Mechanism in Oat (Avena sativa) Seedlings with Different Drought Resistance under PEG-Induced Drought Stress

Drought severely limits the growth and development of oat (Avena sativa) seedlings. As an osmotic regulator simulating a drought environment, Polyethylene glycol (PEG) has been widely linked in response to plant drought tolerance. However, the underlying mechanism of oats’ response to PEG stress is still largely unknown. Here, we investigated the physiological and transcriptome variables of the drought-resistant oat variety DA92-2F6, and the drought-susceptible variety Longyan 3 under 15% PEG-6000 drought stress to better understand the underlying drought tolerance molecular mechanisms. The physiological results showed that except for the cell membrane permeability, the antioxidant enzyme, osmotic adjustment substance, and photosynthetic efficiency were significantly higher in the DA92-2F6 after 7 d stress. Further, 12 cDNA libraries and 123,223 unigenes were obtained by RNA-seq. A total of 33,857 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected, of which two co-upregulated and three co-downregulated in four comparisons. We highlighted an analysis of the DEGs in phytohormone signal transduction pathway. The auxin, cytokinin, and brassinosteroid signaling pathways, were suppressed in Longyan 3, while abscisic acid and jasmonic acid signaling pathways were mainly activated in DA92-2F6 under drought stress. The upregulated of PP2C, ABF, SNRK2, GID1, JAZ, and MYC2 genes may enhance the drought tolerance of DA92-2F6. Taken together, these results provided a new transcript resource for the drought tolerance improvement and a reference for oat drought resistance molecular breeding.

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.

Optimizing Water and Nitrogen Strategies to Improve Forage Oat Yield and Quality on the Tibetan Plateau Using APSIM

There is a great need for improving oat forage production to increase forage supply and protect grassland ecosystems on the Tibetan Plateau. We conducted two field experiments and modeling work to investigate the responses of oat (Avena sativa L.) forage yield and N uptake to water and N applications, and to optimize the water and N scheduling under rainfed and irrigated conditions. The experiments were conducted in 2017 and 2018 at Jintai farm in the northeast of the Tibetan Plateau. Two N-applying rates of 120 and 60 kg ha−1 were tested in 2017, and four irrigation treatments (no irrigation—NI, irrigated 50 mm at flowering—I1, irrigated 50 mm at tillering and jointing—I2, and irrigated 50 mm at tillering, jointing, and flowering—I3) were applied under every N rate in 2018. The Agricultural Production System Simulator (APSIM) was calibrated and validated for the local oat variety. Under rainfed conditions in both years, oat yields under high and low N were 7.98–8.52 and 5.09–6.53 t ha−1, respectively; the high N rate significantly increased forage yield and N uptake compared to low N conditions by 22.2–67.4% (p < 0.01) and 42.0–162.0% (p < 0.01), respectively. In 2018, irrigation increased oat forage yield by 29.8–96.6% (p < 0.01) and increased N uptake by 19.6–50.5% (p > 0.05); N rates had no significant effect on forage yield (p > 0.05), but significantly increased N uptake by 42.6–64.7% (p < 0.01). I2 was superior to I3 in terms of increasing water use efficiency (WUE) while maintaining high forage yield and N uptake. APSIM-oat was calibrated with data under both rainfed and irrigated conditions and was confirmed to have good accuracy and lower normalized root mean square errors (NRMSEs) for phonology dates, forage yield, soil water storage, and N uptake. Scenario analysis was performed with 30-year historical weather data; five N rates were designed for rainfed conditions, and 25 scenarios comprising five N rates and five irrigation levels were designed for irrigated conditions. Simulations showed that the N rate of 90 kg ha−1 resulted in the best performance for oat under rainfed conditions. Under irrigated conditions, irrigation promoted oat nitrogen uptake. Thus, overall an N rate of 120 kg ha−1 in combination with irrigation of 120 mm applied during the vegetative growth period performed the best. This optimized strategy may provide guidance on water and N management of oat forage production in the Tibetan Plateau and similar alpine regions worldwide. The promoted strategy increases yields while reducing water and nitrogen resource wastes, thus decreasing the environmental pollution from agriculture and responding to the sustainable development of farmland ecosystems.

Incidence and Distribution of Barley yellow dwarf virus Infecting Oats in Korea

A survey of Barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) was conducted in major oat-growing areas of Korea in 2020. BYDV is an economically important pathogen of cereal crops that can be transmitted by aphids. The present study evaluated the genetic composition of BYDV in oat from eight geographical areas in Korea. Multiplex reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was used to screen 322 oat leaf samples for six BYDV strains (PAV, MAV, SGV, PAS, RPV, and RMV). The 125 samples (~39%) tested positive for BYDV. BYDV-PAV, BYDV-SGV, BYDV-PAS, and BYDV-RPV were detected from oat in different areas. Most of the BYDV-infected samples were assigned to subgroup I (n=112). The results indicate that BYDV-PAV could be dominant throughout Korea. Also, the phylogenetic analysis of coat protein sequences indicated that 23 BYDV isolates from Korea could be separated into two clades, which exhibited high nucleotide sequence similarity. In conclusion, the present survey provides a BYDV infection assessment for domestic oat varieties in Korea and basic information for the development of BYDV control measures in Korea’s oat industry.

OL 15: A high yielding, single cut variety of fodder oat developed for Punjab state

A new high yielding oat variety OL 15 derived from cross between HJ 8 and OL 1610 was released during the year 2021 for irrigated, timely sown conditions of Punjab. Variety reaches to 50 per cent flowering in 115-120 days and ready for harvesting for green fodder. The variety is low in Acid detergent fiber (ADF) and Neutral detergent fiber (NDF) content but possess high crude protein (CP) content, crude protein yield (CPY) as well as superior nutritional quality for in-vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD). OL 15 is semi-erect in stature with high tillering ability, good for single cut system with more desirable morphological plant characters such as plant height, leaf length and leaf width and having medium sized grains. The variety showed high responses to nitrogenous fertilizers and is moderately susceptible to powdery mildew. In the overall performance over five years, mean green forage yield of 852.46 q/ha with a superiority of 23.2 per cent over check (Kent) was recorded. The mean dry matter yield recorded for this variety was 180.1 q/ha with 31.4 per cent superiority over check (Kent). At Faridkot district of Punjab, the variety recorded the highest green forage yield (998 q/ha) which justifies the genetic potential of the variety. The variety outperforms other released and tested varieties Kent, OS 6, and OL 125 in terms of green forage yield, dry matter yield and seed yield. The crude protein yield was 10.80 q/ha with an IVDMD of 50.5 per cent and a CP content of 7.1 per cent. The variety OL 15 was recommended in the year 2021 for cultivation in Punjab state of India. Keywords: Oat, multi-location, green forage yield, dry matter content, variety

Multispectral Analysis of Small Plots Based on Field and Remote Sensing Surveys—A Comparative Evaluation

Remote sensing is an efficient method of monitoring experiments rapidly and by enabling the collection of significantly more detailed data, than using only field measurements, ensuring new possibilities in scientific research. A small plot field experiment was conducted in a randomized block design with winter oat (Avena sativa L.) varieties in Debrecen, Hungary in the 2020/2021 cropping year. Multiple field measurements and aerial surveys were carried out examining the response of oat on Silicon and Sulfur foliar fertilization treatments thereby monitoring their effects on the physiology, production and stress tolerance. Parallel application of in situ (elevation, soil pH, NDVI, SPAD, chlorophyll content) and aerial (NDVI, NDRE) surveys including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) provided a diverse source of data for evaluation. Both the oat varieties (88.9%) and the foliar fertilization treatments (87.5%) were correctly classified and clearly separated with the discriminant analysis based on measured data. The Pearson correlation analysis showed a very strong positive connection (r = 0.895–1.00) between the NDVI values measured using a hand-held system and UAV-installed camera, except the third measurement time, where the correlation was weaker (r = 0.70). Our results indicate that field experiments can be effectively supported by UAVs.

Frequency distribution and genetic variability parameters assessment for forage yield attributing traits in oats (Avena sativa L.)

An experiment was conducted with 125 germplasm accessions and five check varieties of Oat (Avena sativa L.) in augmented design during rabi, 2019-20. Nineteen quantitative traits were studied for the assessment of genetic variability. Sufficient variation was exhibited by most of the traits studied. The highest values for GCV and PCV was observed for leaf:stem ratio and seed yield per plant. High heritability and high genetic advance as per cent of mean were observed for 1000 seed weight and leaf:stem ratio. High heritability combined with high genetic advance is the indication of additive gene action and selection based on this would be more effective. The skewness value for most of the traits studied in Oats ranged from -0.5 to 0.5 which indicate that these traits are normally distributed except for days to 50% flowering, flag leaf length, the number of tillers per plant, leaf dry weight per plant and leaf: stem ratio. Plant height, flag leaf width, culm diameter, dry matter yield per plant, stem dry weight per plant and seed yield per plant exhibited negative kurtosis (platykurtic). Keywords: Variability, Skewness, Kurtosis, Forage yield and Oat

Изучение характера наследования компонентов авенина у гибридов F2 от скрещивания сортов овса посевного сибирской селекции

Abstract. The purpose of this work is to study the nature of inheritance of avenin components and description of new blocks of components in oat varieties cultivated in the Tyumen region for further use in marker breeding. Methods. We analyzed the grains of F2 hybrids from crosses of oat varieties ♀Tyumenskiy golozernyy × ♂Megion, ♀Tyumenskiy golozernyy × ♂Otrada, ♀Otrada × ♂Tyumenskiy golozernyy, ♀Megion × ♂Otrada. Native electrophoresis was performed in 13.2 % PAGE for 4.0–4.5 h at a constant voltage of 500 V. Results. In the course of research, it was found that the analyzed components of avenin make up blocks. The frequency distribution of phenotypic classes for each locus in each of the studied hybrid combinations corresponds to the assumption that each of the blocks is inherited as a single codominant mendelian unit. The synthesis of blocks of avenin components is controlled by three independent avenin-coding loci. Analysis of the inheritance of individual components of avenin in F2 hybrids made it possible to describe three new blocks of components, the synthesis of which is controlled by the Avn A locus – A9, A10, and A11; one block controlled by the Avn B locus – B7 and one block controlled by the Avn C locus – C8. On the basis of the results obtained, complete protein formulas were drawn up for the studied varieties of sowing oats: Tyumenskiy golozernyy – Avn 2.7.3; Megion – Avn 2 + 9.7.5; Otrada – Avn 10 + 11.4.8. It was found that the use of a spectrum of only one type as a standard is insufficient and leads to errors in the identification of component blocks. For more accurate identification, several varieties should be used simultaneously to obtain a complex spectrum-standard that combines several blocks of components for each locus. Scientific novelty. Described 5 new blocks of avenin components. These blocks can be used to assess the intrapopulation genetic diversity of oat varieties, as well as to search for adaptively significant and economically valuable traits linked to them.

Pathogenic mycobiot of seeds of cereal crops under the influence of different growing technologies

One of the important factors in obtaining quality seeds of cereals is the technology of cultivation, which should ensure high yields and quality of grain and be safe for the environment. Therefore, the aim of our study was to determine the impact of different growing technologies on the pathogenic microflora of the seeds winter wheat and oats. It was established that on the seeds of winter wheat of the variety Oberig Myronivskyi according to the traditional growing technology 7 genera of phytopathogenic micromycetes parasitized such as Alternaria spp., Fusarium spp., Aspergillus spp., Acremoniella spp., Bipolaris spp., Penicillium spp., Cladosporim spp., which were characterized by different frequency of occurrence from 10% to 60%. On the seeds of oat variety Timbre we identified such phytopathogenic micromycetes as Alternaria spp., Fusarium spp., Aspergillus spp., Chaetomiums spp., Drechslera spp., Penicillium spp., Trichoderma spp., where their frequency of occurrence was from 10 to 50%. The highest frequency of occurrence the seeds winter wheat and oats by traditional growing technologies was characterized by genera Aspergillus spp. and Penicillium spp. This can create a significant problem when storing seeds and suppress its germination. Under organic growing technology on winter wheat seeds of the variety Oberig Myronivskyi micromycetes of the following genera: Alternaria spp., Fusarium spp., Aspergillus spp., Chaetomiums spp., Penicillium spp., Trichoderma spp., Bipolaris spp. were identified, where their frequency of occurrence was from 25 to 50%. On the seeds of oats of the variety Timbre there were micromycetes of genera: Alternaria spp., Fusarium spp., Aspergillus spp., Chaetomiums spp., Drechslera spp., Penicillium spp., Trichoderma spp. with frequency of occurrence from 10 to 50%. The dominant genus was Trichoderma spp. Fungi of this genus have the ability to multiply rapidly, which will compete with other microorganisms. The growing technology of cereal affect not only the number and frequency of occurrence phytopathogenic micromycetes on seeds, but also sporulation and their reproductive structures. It was found that the seeds of winter wheat and oats, in the conditions of traditional growing technology, the similarity of micromycetes was 56%. At the same time, the coefficient similarity of species the phytopathogenic micromycetes on the seeds of the studied crops, in terms of organic technology, was slightly higher and amounted to 63%. The analyzed indicators, such as the frequency of occurrence and the similarity coefficient, make it possible to evaluate the seeds of growing plant varieties in order to avoid biological contamination of agrocenoses with infectious structures of the phytopathogenic micromycetes.

Effect of different pretreatments on antioxidant activity of oats grown in the Himalayan region.

In this work the different varieties of oats were subjected to three pre-treatments such as germination, sand roasting and γ-irradiation. The pretreated oat grains were evaluated for phenolic content, flavonoid content and antioxidant activity. RP-HPLC displayed that the amount of ferulic acid, chlorogenic acid, kaempferol, ellagic acid and epicatechin in native, roasted and γ-irradiated oats varied in the range of 2.51-3.23, 0.97-1.89, 4.35-5.33, 1.56-2.197 and 3.387-10.8µg/100g, respectively. Total phenolic content (TPC) expressed as µg GAE/g and µg FAE/g and total flavonoid content (TFC) expressed as µg rutin equivalent/g was found highest in germinated samples. Study reported increase in antioxidant activity in the following order; γ-irradiation > germination > roasting > native. It was concluded that the different pretreatments enhanced antioxidant properties of the oat grains therefore can be efficiently utilized as food or functional ingredient in various food systems.

Formation of a stable yield of grain crops in various meteorological conditions in the northern forest-steppe of the Tyumen region

Siberian regions, including the Northern Trans-Urals, play an important role in the production of grain and feed. The main forage crops cultivated in the region are oats and barley. Both crops have a long history of cultivation and a wide range of advantages that allow them to be used for fodder, food and technical purposes. The share of these crops in the grain wedge of the Tyumen region is more than 40%.The creation and introduction of ecologically plastic varieties is a prerequisite for stabilizing grain harvesting. Varieties must combine good responsiveness to favourable growing conditions with resistance to limiting environmental factors. Modern technologies of cultivation of crops directly depend on climatic parameters: temperature, amount of precipitation and their distribution by months. Crop productivity can be controlled by studying and understanding the influence of the climatic potential of Western Siberia, the features of which this article is devoted to. In the current weather conditions 2015-2019. the yield of barley varieties Abalak, Acha and Vorsinsky 2 varied moderately (V = 12.2-17.8%) and ranged from 3.70 to 3.99 t/ha. Variety Chelyabinsky 99 turned out to be responsive to changes in air temperature and the amount of precipitation (V = 28.7%). The yield of oat varieties varied significantly from climatic indicators (V = 37.1-44.3%) and ranged from 1.93 to 3.38 t/ha. The variety Foma stood out especially with a maximum average yield of 3.38 t/ha and an average negative dependence on the SCC for May-September (r = - 0.29).

Different Types of Fertilizers Enhanced Salt Resistance of Oat and Associated Physiological Mechanisms in Saline Soils

Soil salinization is more aggravating than ever before; suitable fertilizer application is essential for promoting crop growth and productivity in saline soils. A field experiment was conducted to study the effects of different types of fertilizers on oat (Avena sativa L.) growth and associated physiological mechanism in saline soils. Two oat varieties (V1 = Baiyan 2 and V2 = Baiyan 7) were used and four fertilizer treatments (T1 = control, T2 = nitrogen fertilizer, T3 = Giza Fertile fertilizer, T4 = Powder fertilizer) were evaluated in this study. The results showed that fertilizer treatments significantly improved plant growth and associated physiological traits, grain yield, forage yield, and forage quality of both oat varieties. Plant height, leaf area, superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, proline, forage yield, panicles, spikelets per panicle, grain weight, and grain yield were significantly increased by fertilizer application, and the maximum values were all produced under T2 (nitrogen fertilizer). But the highest values of catalase, soluble sugar, and crude fat were observed under T4 (powder fertilizer). On the contrary, malondialdehyde and crude fiber were significantly decreased by fertilizer application, and the highest value was recorded under T2 and T4, respectively. V2 was superior in plant growth, grain yield, forage yield, and forage quality than V1. This study suggested that nitrogen fertilizer was superior in promoting growth, biomass yield and grain yield production, and Powder fertilizer was better in enhancing forage quality of oat in saline soils.

De Novo Transcriptome Assembly and SNP Discovery for the Development of dCAPS Markers in Oat

Cultivated oat (Avena sativa L.) is an important cereal crop that has captured interest worldwide due to its nutritional properties and associated health benefits. Despite this interest, oat has lagged behind other cereal crops in genome studies and the development of DNA markers due to its large and complex genome. RNA-Seq technology has been widely used for transcriptome analysis, functional gene study, and DNA marker development. In this study, we performed the transcriptome sequencing of 10 oat varieties at the seedling stage using the Illumina platform for the development of DNA markers. In total, 31,187,392~41,304,176 trimmed reads (an average of 34,322,925) were generated from 10 oat varieties. All of the trimmed reads of these varieties were assembled and generated, yielding a total of 128,244 assembled unigenes with an average length of 1071.7 bp and N50 of 1752 bp. According to gene ontology (GO) analysis, 30.7% of unigenes were assigned to the “catalytic activity” of the parent term in the molecular function category. Of the 1273 dCAPS markers developed using 491 genotype-specific SNPs, 30 markers exhibiting polymorphism in 28 oat varieties were finally selected. The transcriptome data of oat varieties could be used for functional studies about the seedling stage of oat and information about sequence variations in DNA marker development. These 30 dCAPS markers will be utilized for oat genetic analysis, cultivar identification, and breeders’ rights protection.

Biochemical assessment of oat genotypes revealed variability in grain quality with nutrition and crop improvement implications

Oat is a potent source of nutrients and bioactive compounds offering potential health benefits and role in combating micronutrient malnutrition problems. To exploit nutritional and quality traits of oats, a biochemical assessment of 112 oat genotypes was conducted. The high range of variability for total phenol (1.7–31.3 mg/g), β-glucan (1.0–8.0 mg/g), calcium (1.91–4.34 mg/g), zinc (3.80–6.50 mg/100 g), iron (0.66–4.89 mg/100 g) and manganese (2.88–8.0 mg/100 g) was revealed among genotypes. A higher amount of iron and zinc was found in genotypes OS-6, HFO-638, HFO-915 & HFO-918, whereas, elevated levels of manganese and zinc were recorded in genotypes OS-403 & OL-1804. The results revealed groups of low phytic acid oat genotypes containing high crude protein (HFO-52, HFO-270, HFO-330), β-glucan (HFO-62, HFO-588, HFO-926). A significant positive correlation was obtained between copper with iron, manganese, and calcium content. These findings could be useful for developing value-added oat food products and novel oat varieties.

Особенности мужского мейоза на примере четырех сортов овса посевного (Avena sativa L.), возделываемых в условиях Центральной Якутии

Extreme environmental factors decrease seed setting and form unseeded or thinning panicles. Since meiosis underlies formation of gametes, it largely determines further processes associated with pollination, fertilization and development of a full-fledged seed. In this regard, studies meant to identify the peculiarities of male meiosis for plants cultivated in the severe natural and climatic conditions of Central Yakutia are relevant and of particular interest. The goal of this study was to identify the characteristics of male meiosis in oat (Avena sativa L.) varieties adapted to local conditions. We should emphasize that no studies of meiosis in common oats under the conditions of Central Yakutia have been performed earlier. We used four varieties of common oats (Pokrovsky, Vilensky, Pokrovsky 9, and Khibiny 2) as study material. All the varieties under analysis were hexaploids (2n = 6x = 42). The studies were conducted in 2020 at the Pokrovsky Department of Yakut Research Institute of Agriculture, in Khangalassky ulus of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) located in the middle taiga zone. The weather and climatic conditions during the growing season were characterized by an insufficient provision of soil with productive moisture at the early phases of grain and forage crop growth and development. To analyze meiosis, we used oat spikelets sampled when they were emerging into the tube. The spikelets were fixed on June 25-27, 2020 in duplicate using Carnoy’s solution. We analyzed microsporogenesis and pollen fertility on the temporary squashed preparations of meiocytes using the generally accepted method with 4% acetocarmine staining. The results were statistically processed using Statistica 7.0 (StatSoft. Inc., USA). The samples were compared through one-way ANOVA. The general cytological picture of meiosis in the oat varieties under study mostly corresponded to the conservative scenario typical of monocotyledonous plants. However, all the oat varieties showed some deviations from the general meiosis pattern. One of such deviations was cytomixis - chromatin migration as part of nuclei between microsporocytes through one or several cytomictic channels (Fig. 1, 2). As a rule, the phenomenon of cytomixis in microsporocytes was observed at middle prophase 1 at the pachytene stage (Fig. 1). Nuclei migration was also observed at late prophase 1, for example, at the diplotene stage. Chromatin movement between two adjacent microsporocytes clearly correlated with the formation of micronuclei and cytoplasts. Quite often, this process was also accompanied by nuclei pycnosis (Fig. 2). We should note that rarely we observed massive destructive cytomixis in microsporocytes and tapetum cells. When studying common oat cultivars, we also found microsporocytes with separately lying bivalents that were not included in the metaphase plate (Fig. 2), as well as chromosomal bridges (Fig. 2) at the anaphase-telophase 1 stage. The proportion of microsporocytes with meiotic deviations in all the four cultivars was small (Fig. 3) and varied from 2.99 to 3.23% (Table 1). We found no consequences of the revealed deviations at the tetrad stage. Probably, either most deviations were compensated for by intracellular mechanisms or defective microsporocytes were excluded from the microsporogenesis and eliminated. Besides, these deviations of meiosis did not significantly decrease pollen fertility (Table 1). The results indicate that the observed deviations of meiosis do not significantly contribute to seed formation in such an important grain fodder crop as common oats in the climatic conditions of Central Yakutia. The article contains 3 Figures, 2 Tables, 27References. The Authors declare no conflict of interest.

СРАВНИТЕЛЬНАЯ ОЦЕНКА БАКТЕРИАЛЬНЫХ ПРЕПАРАТОВ ПРИ ВОЗДЕЛЫВАНИИ ЯРОВОГО ОВСА В УСЛОВИЯХ АСТРАХАНСКОЙ ОБЛАСТИ

Field research, sowing of spring oats with the use of bacterial preparations are carried out on the basis of the Institute of the Federal State Budgetary Research Institution "PAFSC RAS", which is located in the Northern part of the Astrakhan region. This article presents the results of studies on the effect of biological preparations (Rhizoagrin, Strain 17-1 and Strain 5S-2) on the yield of spring oats of the Borets and Lev variety in the Astrakhan region for 2019-2021. The analysis of the elements of the structure of the crop, varieties of spring oats is given. The yield of spring oats under control and the use of bacterial preparations is presented. An assessment of the effect of bacterial preparations based on microorganisms in spring oat crops in the conditions of the Astrakhan region was carried out. Observations of diseases of spring oats were carried out, the most disease-resistant variety of spring oats was Lion, whose seeds were treated with the bacterial preparation Rhizoagrin before sowing. Studies and observations of diseases of spring oats have shown that root rot pathogens mainly affect underdeveloped plants. The best results in suppressing powdery mildew were shown by the option with the treatment of Raxil Ultra seeds in combination with treatment with Phytosporin and Falcon. The best option for combating diseases of spring oats is the one where the bacterial preparation Rhizoagrin on the Lev variety was used as a seed mordant. The most disease-resistant variety of spring oats is Lion, whose seeds were treated before sowing with the bacterial preparation Rizoagrin, which has a wide spectrum of action on phytopathogenic microorganisms, suppressing the development and spread of pathogens of powdery mildew, septoria and fusarium.