270 likes | 283 Views
A Comeback for Bristle Oat ( Avena strigosa Schreb. s.l.), a Crop Nearly Lost in Europe. Axel Diederichsen Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen) Alnarp, Sweden. Oat harvested in the world since 1945 ( Sources: Coffman 1961 and FAO 2008).
E N D
A Comeback for Bristle Oat (Avena strigosa Schreb. s.l.), a Crop Nearly Lost in Europe Axel Diederichsen Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen) Alnarp, Sweden
Oat harvested in the world since 1945(Sources: Coffman 1961 and FAO 2008) • Diploid Oat (Avena strigosa) is cultivated on 5,000,000 ha • nearly exclusively in South America.
Cultivated oat germplasm • The world genebanks preserve about 80,000 accessions of cultivated oat species (A. sativa, A. abyssinica, A. strigosa) • The diversity of landraces is of great importance and in situ or on farm conservation are presently not significant in industrialized countries • Genebanks are important sources for such diversity • Oat breeding programmes are disappearing
Evolutionary relationships among Avena species (Loskutov 2008)
Geographical origin of cultivated oat species (Loskutov, 2008)
Seed storage at Plant Gene Resources of Canada Working collection: + 4ºC, 10-20%RH of air, in paper envelopes • Long-term storage: • 18ºC, dry seeds in • sealed envelopes
Specimens of diploid oat in the herbarium of the Vavilov Institute, St. Petersburg A. brevis, Portugal, rep. 1929 A. strigosa, Latvia, 1912
Small naked oat: A. nuda L. ”Pilcorn” from England, VIR reproduction 1927
Documentation of A. strigosa in North Western Europe in VIR Herbarium • Recent findings of A. strigosa in Northern Europe: • Cultivation on Scottish Islands (Hebrides, Shetland, Orkney), (Scholten et al. 2008) • - Weed in Lithuania, (Weibull et al. 2001)
Recent cultivars and cultivation of diploid oat • UK (Wales), 1930s, two cultivars • ’Saia’, Brazil 1940, (aveia preta) • ’Soil Saver’, USA 2002, (black oat) • ’Luxurial’, France 2005 (?) avoine brésilienne, avoine rude • ’Pratex’, Germany 2009, (Sandhafer) • Some recent cultivation in Australia • Relictic cultivation on Scottish Islands
Characterisation of 191 genebank accessions in Canada (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) and Germany (Lundsgaard, Schleswig-Holstein) Avena strigosa characterisation Forage oats: A. sativa (left), A. strigosa (right)
Germplasm regeneration and characterization • The most critical step in a genebank operation • Combined with agro-botanical characterization • Goal: Germplasm and information for genebank clients
Panicle types in diploid oat A. nuda, NLD CN 79351 A. brevis, UK CN 55100 A. nuda, UK CN 79350 A. strigosa, Chile CN 81785 A. strigosa, Canada CN 36505
Selected characters and character states in A. strigosa s.l.
Character combinations in 192 accessions of cultivated diploid oat (A. strigosa s.l.) Panicle unilateral 7 accessions Panicle equilateral 185 accessions Hulled 183 accessions 178 accessions 5 accessions Hull-less 9 accessions 7 accessions 2 accessions
Character combinations in 8937 accessions of cultivated hexaploid oat (A. sativa s.l.) Panicle equilateral 8716 accessions Panicle unilateral 221 accessions Hulled 8754 accessions 8535 accessions 219 accessions Hull-less 183 accessions 181 accessions 2 accessions
N.I. Vavilov on the botanical species • The principle of parallels in variation in botanical species. N.I. Vavilov, 1931. [The Linnean species as a system]. (In Russian). Bull. Appl. Bot. 26 (3), 109-134.
Challenges for plant breeding in diploid oat • Breeding for forage: • Seed size, lodging, maturity, yield, quality • Breeding for green manure: • seed size, nematode reaction, lodging, yield • Access to diverse germplasm
Which opportunities are there for diploid oat? • Green manure crop • Nematode reducing effect • Erosion protection and capturing nitrogen • Forage crop (fine leaves) • Diversification of crop rotation • Small naked oat as bird feed • Resource for stem rust resistance breeding
Conclusions • Diploid oat is an example of a crop that has disappeared from European agriculture • The diversity preserved in genebanks is of relevance • There may be on-farm diversity of the species in South America that is not well described and threatened by extinction
Acknowledgements • Plant Gene Resources of Canada: Ken Richards, Dallas Kessler, David Williams, summer students • University of Saskatchewan: Bruce Coulman • PHP Saatzucht Lundsgaard, Germany: Michaela Schlathölter • NordGen: Morten Rasmussen, Simon Jeppson