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

Abstract

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.

Unraveling the Potential of β-D-Glucans in Poales: From Characterization to Biosynthesis and Factors Affecting the Content

“…A significantly lower variability in β-D-glucan contents was confirmed among four oat species A. sativa (3.60%), A. byzantina (3.40%), A. abyssinica (2.46%), and A. strigosa (2.97%) by the recent study of VIR oat collection by Popov et al [ 52 ]. These results indicated that the hexaploid cultivated oat species A. sativa and A. byzantina showed a generally higher content of β-D-glucans than tetraploid and diploid wild accessions.…”

Prof. Alexey V. Konarev (celebrating the 75th birthday)

“…Приводим некоторые статьи за период с 2016 по 2022 г. (Grigorev et al, 2022;Loskutov et al, 2022;Popov et al, 2022;Porokhovinova et al, 2022;Shelenga et al, 2021;Shvachko et al, 2021;Solovyeva et al, 2021;Bityutskii et al, 2020;Gavrilova et al, 2020;Loskutov et al, 2020;Shelenga et al, 2020;Sidorova et al, 2020;Konarev et al, 2019;Loskutov et al, 2019;Sidorova et al, 2018;Loskutov et al, 2017;Perchuk et al, 2016). А. В. Конарев -участник многих оте чественных и международных конгрессов, симпозиумов и совещаний.…”

The Impact of Vavilov’s Concept of the Centres of Crop Origin and Diversity on Research, Conservation, and Utilisation of Plant Genetic Resources Today: A Review on the Occasion of Vavilov’s 135th Anniversary

“…Popov et al evaluated the nutritional and agronomic value of 49 accessions of cultivated oat species maintained in the VIR genebank [ 13 ]. Sources of useful agronomic traits were identified, which can be used to develop new high-yielding and highly nutritious oat cultivars adapted to local cultivation conditions.…”