1. NOTES
   • Oat Newsletter Announcement

   • Instructions to Contributors for Volume 47

   • A Statement of Purpose of the Organization of the American Oat Workers Conference

   • American Oat Workers Conference Committees 1998-2002

   • American Oat Workers Code of Ethics for Germplasm Exchange
   
   

2. REPORTS
   • AUSTRALIA
     • CAMDEN
       • Occurrence and Pathogenic Specialisation in Puccinia coronata in Australasia, 1999-2000 - Robert F. Park

   • AUSTRIA

3. ZWETTL
   • Comparison of Hybridization Methods in Oat for Improvement in the Yield of F₁-seed - Sandra Berger

   • The Usage of NIT- (near-infrared-transmission) Technology in the Breeding of Quality Oats - Manuela Haas

   • CANADA
     • MANITOBA
       • Oat Breeding at the Cereal Research Centre of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada - Jennifer Mitchell Fetch

       • Oat Crown Rust in Canada in 1999 - James Chong

       • Update on Oat Stem Rust Pathotype NA67 - B. McCallum and T. Fetch, Jr.

     • SASKATCHEWAN
       • Germplasm of Wild and Cultivated Oat Species at Plant Gene Resources of Canada - A. Diederichsen and D. Williams

       • Oat in Saskatchewan 1999/2000 - B.G. Rossnagel, G.J. Scoles, G. Arganosa, and T. Zatorski

       • OT373 Milling Oat Supported for Registration - B.G. Rossnagel and G.J. Scoles

   • RUSSIA
     • OMSK
       • Oat Genotypes for Grain Quality Breeding under the Conditions of Western Siberia - G.Y. Kozlova and N.G. Smischuk

     • LENIN STR
       • Algorithm of Searching and Creating Acid-resistant Populations and Varieties of Oat - E.M. Lisitsyn and G.A. Batalova

     • ST. PETERSBURG
       • Evaluation of Interspecific Diversity in Avena Genus by RAPD analysis - I.G. Loskutov and I.N. Perchuk

   • UNITED KINGDOM
     • CAMBRIDGE
       • Proceedings of the European Oat Conference - Sue Barton

       • Maximixing Energy and Protein - Christopher Green

       • Naked Oat Trials Go International - Christopher Green

   • UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
     • IDAHO
       • National Small Grains Collection Activities - H.E. Bockelman

       • Evaluation of National Small Grains Collection Germplasm Progress Report - Oats. - H.E. Bockelman and D.M. Wesenberg

     • MINNESOTA
       • Oat Production and Research in Minnesota - D.D. Stuthman, H.W. Rines, R.L. Phillips, K.J. Leonard, D.V. McVey, and R. Dill-Macky

       • Oat Rusts in the United States in 1999 - K.J. Leonard, D.L. Long, M.E. Hughes, D.H. Casper and G.E. Ochocki

     • NORTH DAKOTA
       • Oat Quality Survey - Douglas C. Doehlert and Michael S. McMullen

       • Oat Production, Breeding, and Research in North Dakota - Michael S. McMullen and Douglas C. Doehlert

     • SOUTH DAKOTA
       • Oat Research in South Dakota - D.L. Reeves

4. IV CULTIVARS
   • AC Pinnacle - J.W. Mitchell Fetch, P.D. Brown, J. Chong, S.D. Duguid, D.E. Harder, S.M. Haber, J. Menzies, and J.S. Noll

   • Argamak - E.S. Denisova, G.A. Batalova, L.N. Ephremidi, N.S. Solovjova, N.A. Lobanova, A.I. Kalinin

   • Ebeltoft - Michael S. McMullen and Douglas C. Doehlert

   • Richard - D.D. Studthman, R.A. Caspers. D.V. McVey, R. Dill-Macky, and H.W. Rines

   • Youngs - Michael S. McMullen and Douglas C. Doehlert

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The Oat Newsletter is intended for informal communication among oat workers. Persons involved in any aspect of the oat industry and research, including production and breeding, pathology, biotechnology, and milling and processing, are invited to submit information about their programs in the Oat Newsletter.

All issues of the Oat Newsletter from Volume 44 onward will be published electronically in the Internet via a link from GrainGenes to the Oat Newsletter homepage at http://wheat.pw.usda.gov/oatnewsletter/. Printed paper versions will no longer be available. However, limited printed copies of the Oat Newsletter will be provided to those that do not have access to the Internet, on a cost-recovery basis. Requests should be sent to:

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Contributions for Volume 47 may be submitted at any time, but should be submitted no later than May 1, 2001. The editor encourages you to submit your article(s) several weeks earlier than the deadline date, if you can do so. Contributions to the Oat Newsletter must conform to the following guidelines:

a.     Prepare articles in English. Maximum length should not exceed 6 pages, single-spaced.

b.     Articles should be prepared in PC WordPerfect (preferred), PC Microsoft Word, or ASCII file format. Do not number pages. Articles should be titled as follows:

Please include full mailing address and/or e-mail address for each article, as the Oat Newsletter will no longer be distributed by mail, hence no need of publishing a mailing list in Volume 44 and future issues of the Newsletter.

c.     To facilitate conversion to html formas required for posting on the Internet, please use the "Create Table" feature in the word processor to make tables, as tables created by spaces and tabs do not convert properly.

d.     Photographs or images saved in .jpg or .gif format can be submitted with your articles.

e.     Manuscripts should be carefully proofed. Manuscripts considered unsuitable for inclusion will be returned to the author(s) for revision and resubmission for a future volume.

f.     An electronic version of the article should be submitted by mail or e-mail to:

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This statement, approved by the members of the American Oat Workers Conference, Minneapolis, MN on June 22, 1994, shall serve to delineate the purpose and organizational structure of an American Oat Workers Conference. This Conference shall be made up of scientists and other workers actively engaged in the improvement, management, and utilization of oats. These requirements being met, active participation in the Conference constitutes membership, and all attending members at a particular meeting of the Conference shall have voice and vote in all matters properly brought before the Conference during a regular business meeting to be held during each meeting of the Conference. The Conference shall meet at a time, generally every four years, and at a location to be selected by vote of the attending membership at the previous meeting of the Conference. The Executive Committee, described below, shall have the authority to call emergency meetings of the Conference as necessary.

The purpose of the American Oat Workers Conference shall be to advance oat improvement and culture in North America and the world by providing a vehicle for the:
a. Dissemination of information on current research.
b. Discussion of regional and continental problems of oat improvement and integration of applicable research.
c. Encouragement of the exchange and preservation of germplasm.
d. Standardization of data recording and terminology.
e. Planning of regional and continental performance nurseries as appropriate.
f. Preliminary announcement of planned cultivar releases.
g. Action on other matters that may properly come before the Conference.
 
 

The American Oat Workers Conference shall be under the general leadership of an American Oat Workers Conference Committee composed of official representatives of the various regions and countries and of a general Executive Committee. Members of the Executive Committee shall be the Chairman, Chair-Elect, Past Chairman, Secretary of the American Oat Workers Conference, and the Editor of the Oat Newsletter, and they need not be official representatives of the American Oat Workers Conference Committee. The Executive Committee shall appoint a nominating committee for a slate of officers for the offices of Chairman and Secretary of the Conference. The Chairman-elect and Secretary shall be elected by the membership of the Conference during the regular business meeting to be held each time the Conference meets. The term of office shall be four years and the Chairman, Chairman-elect, and Secretary will assume their duties immediately after adjournment of the Conference wherein elected. The Chairman-elect will automatically become the Chairman for the ensuing four year period. These officers may serve consecutive terms if properly elected by the Conference. The Editor of the Oat Newsletter shall be appointed by the Executive Committee. The Editor of the Oat Newsletter may serve consecutive terms. It shall be the responsibility of the Executive Committee to appoint an Acting Editor of the Oat Newsletter should that position be vacated between regular Conference meetings. The Past Chairman, Secretary, and Editor of the Newsletter shall be non-voting members of the American Oat Workers Conference unless they are also serving as representatives on the American Oat Workers Conference Committee. The Chairman shall be a voting member of the latter Committee and shall preside over all business meetings of the Committee and of the American Oat Workers Conference.

The American Oat Workers Conference shall be made up of official representatives from the various countries and regions as follows:
 

Where the representative cannot attend an official conference, he may designate an alternate.

In addition to the above minimum representation, three representatives shall be elected at large by the Conference during the regular meeting once every four years. Also, the elected chairman of the Conference shall be a member of the Committee. Thus, the total voting membership of the committee shall not exceed 14. Representatives from the various regions shall be selected by one of the following methods:

a. USA Regional Representatives normally shall be elected by the appropriate Regional Committee. In the event no such committee exists, the Secretary of the Conference shall contact oat workers within the region by mail once every four years and solicit nominations for a representative and subsequently conduct an election by mail ballot. The individual receiving the most votes shall serve as representative.

b. Canadian Regional Representatives shall be elected by: Western - The Barley and Oat Subcommittee of the Prairie Regional Registration Committee for Grain; and Eastern -- The Eastern Expert Committee on Cereals and Oilseeds. These groups will have the option of electing the third representative to fill the designated Federal position or of requesting Federal representation; whichever is more appropriate.

c. The representative from the US Department of Agriculture shall be the National Technical Advisor for Oat Improvement.

d. The Mexican representative shall be designated by the appropriate government official or organization.

Alternates may be elected or appointed for each representative on the American Oat Workers Conference Committee.
 

Standing Committees

There shall be Standing Committees of the American Oat Workers Conference as follows:

a. Committee on Nomenclature and Cataloguing of Oat Genes - This Committee shall consist of three Conference members appointed by the Chairman of the American Oat Workers Conference. It shall serve to assign symbols and catalog new genes governing characters in oats. Such genes will be listed and described in the Oat Newsletter on an annual basis. The Committee will also be responsible for considering periodical updating and revision of the original publication on the subject, which was entitled "A Standardized System of Nomenclature for Genes Governing Characters of Oats". There shall be no limit of office of committee members.

b. Nomination Committee for Distinguished Service to Oat Improvement Award - This Committee shall consist of three Conference members appointed by the Chairman of the American Oat Workers Conference and shall include at least two members who have served on the American Oat Workers Conference Committee. Their term of office shall be from date of appointment until the end of the following Conference meeting.
 
 

The American Oat Workers Conference shall sponsor an Oat Newsletter to be published on an annual basis for the purpose of dissemination of information on current oat research and research needs. Members of the Conference are encouraged to submit information about their current research programs in response to an annual request to be made by the Editor of the Oat Newsletter. The Newsletter shall also serve as a vehicle of publication for the minutes of the business meetings of the Conference and of the American Oat Workers Conference Committee as well as for Committee Reports and other Conference notes. Abstracts of papers presented at meetings of the Conference also shall be published in the appropriate issues of the Newsletter.

Contributions from countries outside the Conference will be accepted for inclusion in the Newsletter, and should be encouraged so as to promote the dissemination of oat research information and news.

The Oat Newsletter shall be distributed to all members of the Conference and upon request, to other interested oat and cereal crops workers outside the American Oat Workers Conference. An Oat Newsletter Editorial Committee of four (three researchers and one industry representative) is to be appointed by the AOWC Chair.
 
 

The American Oat Workers Conference shall confer the "Distinguished Service to Oat Improvement Award" upon persons in recognition of their outstanding research contributions and/or meritorious service toward making oats a successful agricultural species. The recipient(s) of this award shall be nominated by the Committee previously described as having this charge, and they shall be elected for the award by a majority vote of the American Oat Workers Conference Committee. No restriction shall be placed upon whom may receive the award. However, as a general guide, the award should be presented to person or persons who have devoted a significant portion of their professional career and a significant number of years working with oats through research, extension, or other professional activities. The number of recipients should not be limited, but in general, not more than one to three persons would be recognized at one Conference meeting.

The Award shall be conferred at a regular meeting of the American Oat Workers Conference. Manifestation of the award shall be denoted by the presentation of a suitable plaque or certificate to the recipient. A brief (not to exceed two typewritten pages) statement about the recipient and a photograph of the recipient shall be printed in the first volume of the Oat Newsletter after the presentation.

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Executive Committee

Chair             Fred Kolb
                    Crop Sciences, University of Illinois
                    1102 South Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL 61821, USA
                    e-mail: F-kolb@uiuc.edu
 

Past Chair     Brian Rossnagel
                     Crop Development Centre, University of Saskatchewan
                     51 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK, Canada S7N 5A8
                     e-mail: Brian.rossnagel@usask.ca

Chair-elect     Paul Murphy
                      Crop Science, North Carolina State University
                       Box 7629
                       840 Method Road, Unit 3
                       Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
                       e-mail: Njpm@unity.nscu.edu

Secretary         Howard Rines
                        Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics
                        University of Minnesota
                        411 Borlaug Hall, 1991 Buford Circle
                        St. Paul, MN 55108, USA
                        e-mail: Rines001@maroon.tc.umn.edu
 

Oat Newsletter Editorial Committee (1998 - 2001)

Editor               James Chong
                        Cereal Research Centre, Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada
                        195 Dafoe Road, Winnipeg, MB, Canada R3T 2M9
                        e-mail: Jchong@em.agr.ca

Past Editor     Michael McMullen
                       Department of Plant Sciences
                       North Dakota State University
                       Fargo, ND 58105, USA
                       e-mail: mmcmulle@plains.nodak.edu

Editor-elect     Dave Hoffman
                        USDA-ARS
                        National Small Grains Germplasm Research Facility
                        PO Box 307
                        Aberdeen, ID 83210-0307, USA
                        e-mail: Dhoffman@uidaho.edu
 

Industrial Representative

Member at Large     Trevor Pizzey
                                Can-Oat
                                Portage-la-Prairie, MB, Canada

                                Dale Reeves
                                Plant Science Department
                                South Dakota State University
                                Brookings, SD, 57006, USA
                                e-mail: Dale_reeves@sdstate.edu

                                Darrell Wesenberg
                                National Small Grains Germplasm Research Facility
                                USDA-ARS, PO Box 307
                                Aberdeen, ID, 83210, USA
                                e-mail: Dwesenb@uidaho.edu
 

Regional Representatives

    Eastern Canada - Vernon Burrows, Eastern Cereal & Oilseed Research Center, Ottawa, Canada

    Western Canada - James Chong, Cereal Research Center, Winnipeg, Canada

    AAFC - Ken Campbell, Research Coordination, Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Canada

    Northcentral - Deon Stuthman, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

    Northeastern USA - Mark Sorrells, Cornell University, Ithaca, USA

    Western USA - David Hoffman, University of Idaho, Aberdeen, USA

    USDA-ARS - Charles Murphy, USDA, Beltsville, USA

    Mexico - Jose Salmeron, APDO, Cuauhtemoc, Chihuahua, Mexico

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In past decades, oat workers worldwide have generously shared their oat germplasm with colleagues to enhance oat breeding and research. However, plant variety protection and patent mechanisms focus attention on proprietary rights afforded developers/owners of germplasm materials. The purpose of this code is to encourage the continued exchange of oat germplasm by recognizing these rights and by codifying the obligations of persons receiving unreleased oat germplasm. The following code was approved by the members of the American Oat Workers Conference, Minneapolis, Minnesota on June 22, 1994.
 
 

The originating breeder, station, or company has property rights to unreleased oat germplasm such as pure lines, early generation lines or populations, bulk populations, breeding stocks, or genetic stocks. These rights are not waived with the distribution of seeds or plants of any of these unreleased materials. In this context, "released" materials include named cultivars or breeding or genetic stocks described in an official statement of release.

a. The owner/breeder, in distributing seeds or plant materials of unreleased oat germplasm, grants permission for their use:
i. in performance tests under the recipient's control, such as the USDA Uniform Early and Uniform Mid-season Oat Performance Nurseries, the Eastern or Western Canadian Cooperative Pre-registration Trials, or any national or international oat disease nurseries; and
ii. as parents for making crosses for use in basic research or for selection leading to the development of cultivars. Uses of unreleased germplasm for which written approval from the owner/breeder is required include: selecting from the stock; induction of mutations through tissue culture or other means; insertion of recombinant DNA; use in backcrosses for addition of a gene(s) controlling a specific trait; testing in outlying nurseries not coordinated by USDA or Agriculture Canada; use as parents in commercial F₁ hybrids or as components in synthetic or multiline cultivars; or seed increase and release as a cultivar.

b. The recipient of unreleased seeds or plant material shall make no secondary distribution of the germplasm without the permission of the owner/breeder.

c. The recipient of unreleased materials shall take precautions to prevent unauthorized transfer or theft of seed of these materials from nurseries or seed inventories.

d. The owner/breeder of unreleased oat germplasm stocks may waive, in writing, any of the above restrictions, or may impose additional restrictions.

e. Retention and use of the germplasm accompanying this statement indicates your agreement with the policies set forth in this statement.

For further information, please contact Dr. Deon Stuthman, Dept. of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108 (Tel. 612-625-3709).

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Leaf rust of oats was widespread on wild oats throughout most Australian cereal growing regions. Most samples were received from Victoria, NSW, and Qld (Table 1). As in previous years, samples of leaf rusted oats more often than not comprised two or more pathotypes, necessitating subculturing of single pustules for definite identifications. A total of 273 samples was received, 40 of which failed to yield viable isolates, and from the remaining 233 samples, 509 isolates comprising 23 pathotypes were identified (Table 1). The differentials used to identify pathotypes were listed in Oat Newsletter Volume 45 (Park, R.F., Occurrence and pathogenic specialisation of Puccinia coronata (oat crown rust pathogen) in Australia - 1998/99).

The most significant event in the oat leaf rust survey of 1999-2000 was the detection of virulence for Pc68 in samples of rusted Graza 68 and Moola (both possessing Pc68) collected from Toowoomba and Warwick, Qld, in May. Further isolates were identified from cultivated oats during June and September, and by October, were recovered from leaf rusted wild oats. Surveys from 1995-1998 had failed to detect virulence for this gene. The pathotype responsible, 0307-6,10, is regarded as a single-step mutational derivative of the original Cleanleaf pathotype, 0207-6,10. In addition to being isolated from the Toowoomba-Warwick district, it was also isolated from samples collected at Bogga Billa, Casino, Narrabri, and Orange, in NSW. Interestingly, a second Pc68 virulent pathotype, 0107-3,6,10, was isolated later in the season from Kingsthorpe in Qld. Although this pathotype shares some similarities with pts 0207-6,10 and 0307-6,10, it is clearly different and is of uncertain origin. Pt 0107-3,6,10 is also odd in that it possesses virulence for Pc50, a feature very rarely seen in Australian isolates of Puccinia coronata.

Pathotype diversity appeared to be higher in Qld, NSW, and Victoria, although it should be noted that these regions were the most intensively sampled. As was the case in the 1998-1999 survey, pathotypes with virulence for genes Pc38, Pc39, or PcCleanleaf (triplet codes 0003, 0007, 0207, 0307, 0607, 2207, 4003, 4473) were rare or not detected in SA and WA (Table 1). The occurrence of these pathotypes in Qld, NSW, and Victoria is no doubt related to the deployment of cultivars with these genes in these regions (e.g., Cleanleaf [Pc38, Pc39, PcCleanleaf, released Qld 1992], Riel [Pc38, Pc39, released Qld 1993], Graza 70 [Pc38, Pc39, released Qld 1994]). Virulence for Cleanleaf was also detected in Victoria and Tasmania (Table 1).

As in 1998-1999, the most common pathotypes in Region 1 were the Cleanleaf (0207-6,10), the Amby (0071-0) pathotype, and pt 0001-0, the latter being avirulent on all differential lines except Swan (Table 1). The common occurrence of the Amby pathotype is probably a consequence of the deployment of cultivars with the genes Pc58, Pc59, or Pc61 (e.g., Amby II [Pc61, released Qld 1991], Nobby [Pc58, Pc61 +?, released Qld 1992]). Virulence for Warrego, first detected in 1998, was detected again in 1999. Two new pathotypes with virulence for this cultivar (0007-6,10+Warrego and 0207-6,10+Warrego) were isolated, along with the Warrego virulent pathotype detected in 1998 (pt 0007-6,8,10+Warrego) (Table 1). Pt 4473-6,10, which shares features of the Amby and Cleanleaf pathotypes, was detected more frequently than in 1998, possibly indicating that it is increasing in frequency. Like pt 0607-6,10, this pathotype is virulent on seedlings of Culgoa, however, it is also virulent on seedlings of Riel, Amby, and Nobby.

Triplet code pathotypes 0000 and 0001 tended to be the most common isolated from SA and WA (Table 1). These pathotypes are avirulent on most of the differential lines currently in use, and it is believed that they are similar to or the same as pathotypes that occurred prior to the virulence shifts that followed the release of resistance cultivars in Region 1 during the 1990s. It was evident that some of these pathotypes, particularly 0001-0, could be further subdivided into two or three pathotypes by using several older differential genotypes (Landhafer, Santa Fe, Ukraine, Trispernia, Bondvic, Pc45, Pc48, and Ascencao).

Three samples of oat leaf rust from New Zealand yielded pt 0007-6,8,10 (Table 1). This pathotype was also detected in New Zealand in 1998, and was also commonly detected in Region 1.

The detection of virulence for cv. Warrego during 1998, and for the gene Pc68 in 1999 (Graza 68 and Moola) is yet a further example of the ability of P. coronata to rapidly overcome newly deployed resistance genes. Few of the current suites of oat cultivars possess effective seedling resistance to leaf rust. The resistance of Bettong, Barcoo, Nugene, and Gwydir continue to be effective.
 

Table 1. Puccinia coronata f. sp. avenae isolates identified by region, 1 April 1999 - 31 March 2000
 

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Introduction

Generally, since the 1930s oat cultivation has been on the decline caused mainly by the replacement of drought animals by motorized vehicles in transportation systems. Crop cultivation is ultimately governed by market forces. If demand declines, the cultivation area decreases accordingly. The difficulties of oat breeders go hand-in-hand with decline of demand; breeding oats is less economic in our days. The other problem is oat breeding is more difficult than breeding other cereals due to the fact that there is less seed set in oat crosses.

The objectives of this study were to compare seed sets and practical implementation of some crossing methods common in Europe, to compare seed sets reached by experienced and inexperienced staff, and to compare seed sets of crosses of different oat genotypes.
 

Materials and methods

In our experiment five methods were compared with one standard-method, one method ran out of the comparison because of its totally different handling taking place in the greenhouse. On each day one of the compared methods was made with the standard-method for each genotype in three repetitions by one inexperienced and one experienced person. On each panicle 12 florets of first order were emasculated and pollinated.

If in the methods isolation with pollination bags was necessary, it was made by white-paper-bags. These bags were creased and moistened inside and outside. In some methods pollination took place immediately after emasculation during the whole day. On one hand risk of injuries on the florets is much lower because of just one opening of the flower, on the other hand the probability of natural self-pollination increases. In other methods pollination was made one day after emasculation. In some cases, pollination was repeated one day after the first pollination to take care of the different ripening of the stigmas.

Female plants were selected in the northern part of the plot and were shaded to protect stigmas from drying up.

Pollination was made by one anther per floret or one male panicle per female panicle. Only an amount of anthers that could be used within 10 to 15 min was collected. After that time only 50% of the pollen would be ready to germinate.

The five spring oat genotypes "Expander", "Pony", "Revisor", "Tikal", and "Euro" used in the experiment of this study were chosen to reflect a diversity of early and late maturity. "Expander" has always been chosen as female plant for emasculations. Because of the hot, moist weather the early genotypes "Tikal" and "Euro" had to be omitted, because after the first day no or very few usable Pollen could be found.
 

Table 1. Crossing methods
 

Method	Standard	Method 1	Method 2	Method 3	Method 4	Method 5	EDS
Emasculation	traditional	Schnitthilfe	Schnitthilfe	traditional	traditional	traditional	traditional
Emasculation Pollination	immediately	after 1 day	immediately	after 1 day	immediately	after 1 day	after 1 day
Pollination	1 anther	1 anther	1 anther	1 panicle	1 anther	1 panicle	1 panicle
Repeated Pollination	no	no	no	yes	no	yes	yes
Isolation	no	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	yes

Emasculation

Traditional. The spikelet was held near the base with the ventral outer glume facing the hybridist. The outer glumes were separated with forceps, the exposed secondary floret removed. The palea was separated from the lemma and the three anthers were extracted.

Schnitthilfe. After opening the outer glumes of the floret and removing the second floret, the distal third of the palea and lemma was cut off, so that the hybridist could extract the anthers without separating palea and lemma.
 

Pollination

With 1 anther. One mature anther was placed into the floret and was gently tapped against the inside of the lemma to make sure that the anther opens and spreads pollen on the stigma hairs.

Method 3

The idea of this method was to give the spikelets an ideal position for pollination. Before emasculation a small plastic tube (13 mm in dia) was pulled over the female plant onto the ground. After emasculation the tube was pulled up to cover the spikelets. So the spikelets were put up with the open end. The male panicles were put upside down into the plastic tubes so that pollen from the male parent fell directly onto the stigmas.

Method 5

Pollination. The male panicles were cut off and placed in tubes of water attached to stakes which were positioned near the female parents.

EDS-method (Ear Detached Stem) took place in the greenhouse

Before emasculation also the female panicle was cut off with circa 30 cm stem left and placed into a tube filled with a special solution (600 ml distilled water; 15 g sugar; one drop of disinfection fluid). After emasculation, male panicles with circa 40 cm stem were cut off and put into the solution.

Because of the earlier harvest, the kernels were not ripe and the panicles had to be dried (3 h; 30C). After harvesting the kernels were put on H₂O₂ (1%; 16 h; 20C).
 

Results

In our experiment we worked with 144 panicles, 864 florets were emasculated and pollinated per person (inexperienced and experienced staff).

Out of these florets 228 set seed (13,19%) ; 121 kernels came from crosses made by an experienced person (14%) ; 107 kernels from an inexperienced person (12,38%). There is no significant difference between inexperienced and experienced staff, either in the standard methods or in the other methods.

At the standard methods the inexperienced person achieved a better average percentage of seed set (17,5%) than the experienced person (16,4%). Working with other methods the experienced staff was more successful (medium percentage 14,24%) than the inexperienced staff (medium percentage 10,19%).
 

Table 2. Comparison between the methods
 

Methods	Crossed	Harvested	%	Methods	Crossed	Harvested	%	Statistics
standard	1	36	2500	1	144	37	2569	not significant
standard method	144	27	1875	2	144	43	2986	significant
standard method	144	25	1736	3	144	9	625	significant
standard method	144	16	1111	4	144	13	903	not significant
standard method	144	18	1250	5	144	3	208	significant
				6	288	1	35

 

Methods 1 and 2 led to a better percentage in seed set than the standard method, but only for method 2 was the difference significant. No significant difference was detected between standard method and methods 1 and 4. None of the methods where pollination was made with a panicle achieved a seed set percentage as high as the standard method. The EDS method led to the worst seed set percentage, only one floret out of 288 crossings set seed.
 
 

Table 3. Comparison of the crosses with the different oat genotypes
 

There is a significant difference between pollination with one panicle and pollination with an anther. Seed set percentages were much higher if florets were pollinated with an anther (18,66%). The average seed set percentages were 2,9% (pollination with one panicle).

If pollination was made with a panicle the experienced staff achieved much higher average seed set percentages (5,79%) than the inexperienced staff (0%).
 

Discussion

As one result of the data the percentage of seed set working with pollination with one anther was higher than pollination with panicle. This turned out because by working with each anther selection of ripe anthers can be more precise than working with a whole panicle.

It was also manifested that in these methods experienced staff reached higher results. Because of their experience they selected the most ripe panicles for pollination.

Working with the different methods one objective of our experiment was to investigate their differences in practical work.

The most practical methods were the standard method and method 4. They took the least amount of time to get most of the F₁ seeds.

Emasculation in method 1 and method 2 caused a lot of trouble. Nevertheless, the cutting off was made to lighten the extraction of the anthers, palea, and lemma had to be separated. On the other hand it was difficult to pollinate the florets the next day (method 1) because of the dried up florets. It is very difficult to make the anthers stay in the floret, because the dry palea and lemma remained separated.

Methods 3, 5, and 6 need a lot of time for preparation. Although the idea of method 3 is excellent, handling emasculation and pollination was difficult. The most difficult parts of this method were to pull the tube over the female panicle and pollinate without injuring the plant. The tubes are an ideal hiding-place for small insects, temperatures in these tubes are probably too high, and the tube was too confined. These reasons led to a low percentage of seed set. Suggestions for improvement are to use a wider tube and a hopper on the tube, where male panicles were laid in, so that the whole tube is for the female panicle.

Method 5 is the fastest method for crossing oat.

Method 6, the only method taking place in the greenhouse was a big disappointment. Preparation and working with this method was very time consuming. Even after emasculation and pollination the plants had always to be looked after to protect them from dying before harvest. On the practical side there were a lot of difficulties. At emasculation handling with cut-off females emerged as a big problem.

As a reason for the significant differences in seed set of the different crosses it is presumed that the genotypes "Revisor" or "Tikal" had more ripe pollen in the first days, while the genotypes "Euro" or "Pony" were not mature enough to produce fertile pollen. On the last days "Pony" reached a higher or even the same maturity (no significant differences).
 

Conclusions

The reason for the low and unstable seed set in type of crossing oats in comparison with other cereals is firstly the difference in the inflorescence and secondly in the difference in conditions at anthesis and fertilization.

There is no doubt that success of artificial crossing depends on disturbing the natural flowering and fertilization as little as possible.

Even the experienced hybridist will encounter considerable variation in seed set from time-to-time. Although techniques and environmental conditions influence success, pollen quality at time of pollination appears to be the major determining factor.

Hybridization methods in which pollination is made by one anther are more efficient than those using a whole panicle. The best methods to work with are methods where emasculation is made traditionally and pollination is made by a single anther. Although these pollination-techniques take a lot more time, selection of ripe pollen and therefore the results of seed set are much better.

Generally no significant differences could be detected between inexperienced and experienced staff.
 

References

Ball, Sh. T., Campbell, G.S., and Konzak, C.F. 1992. Pollination bags affect wheat spike temperature. Crop Sci. 32, 1155-1159.

Berger, S. 2000 Vergleichende Kreuzungsmethoden bei Hafer zur Verbesserung der Ausbeute an F1-Körnern. Diplomarbeit am Institut für Pflanzenbau und Pflanzenzüchtung, Univ. für Bodenkultur, Wien.

Brown, C.M. 1957. Scissor emasculation of oats. Agron. J. 49, 278.

Brown, C.M. and Shands, H.L. 1956. Factors influencing seed set of oat crosses. Agron. J. 48, 173-176.

Coffman, F.A. 1937. Factors influencing seed set in oat crossing. J. Hered. 28, 296-303.

Coffman, F.A. and Mackey. 1959. Process of flowering and artificial crossing in oats. Handb. Pflanzenzüchtung, 2. Aufl., Bd. 2, 491-496, Berlin und Hamburg.

Machán F. 1988. Beschleunigung des Zuchtprozesses bei der Haferzucht. Forschungs-und Zuchtinstitut für Getreidebau, Kromeriz, Separatum Genetik und Zucht (Genetika a slechteni) 24, 225-231.

Marshall, H.G. 1962. Effect of wetting and shading bags on seed set of oat crosses. Crop Sci. 2, 365-366.

Tschermak, E. 1922. Beiträge zur Vervollkommnung der Technik der Bastardierungszüchtung der vier Hauptgetreidearten. Z. Pflanzenzüchtung 8, 1-13.

Von Der Schulenburg, H. 1965. Kreuzungsmethoden bei Hafer. Angew. Botanik XXXVIII, 6, 1965.
 

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Introduction

Quality oats got more and more important as a contribution to a healthy nutrition in the last few years. For humans its protein and fat content are very interesting because of the combination of amino and fatty acids. But the most important constituent are the oat crude fibre because a part of the water soluble material, called ß-glucans, are able to lower blood cholesterol level and minimize the danger of a heart attack. Therefore, for quality oat breeders it is very important to know already in early breeding generations if his strains contains high or low amounts of these constituents. Normally the analysis requires a high impact of labour and money. Moreover, especially in early generations, one should not loose any analysed grains. So, near-infrared-transmission is optimal (NIT), it can be used on early generations, it does not destroy the grains and no specialized personnel is needed for handling. With this project an attempt was made to create a calibration for a new NIT unit for moisture, protein, fat, crude fibre, nivalenol, and husk content of quality oats.
 

Materials and methods

Seventy randomly selected samples from six European countries were used for the calibration. They were grown over 4 years at two different Austrian locations. Some of them were grown under biological farming. Through different growth conditions a great variability in the constituents investigated was granted and the analysed samples offered extreme values.

For the first update, 38 samples (grown in 1998) were used to renew and refine the calibration. An "Infratec 2000" NIT unit was used for the calibration. In a near-infrared-transmitter the light of a bulb gets divided with the help of a monochromator into 100 wavelengths with a range between 850 and 1050 nm. In this range many functional groups of plant substances (e.g., the peptide bonding between the amino acids of a protein molecule) absorb special wavelengths. The amount of the light that goes through a sample gets measured with a silizium detector and the value is passed over to an internal computer. After the creation of a specific calibration the results of 10 partial measurements are brought together and an estimation of the concentration of specific constituents is given. Like other spectroscopic techniques, the near-infrared-transmission is based on the Lambert-Beer-Bouger law, which describes the relationship between the absorption and the concentration of a substance.

The chemical analyses were carried out at the IFA (Interuniversital Research Institute for Agrarbiotechnology) in Tulln. The moisture content was investigated with a sartorius moisture analyser. To get the protein content, a macro N apparatus and for the fat content a soxtec-extraction instrument was used. The quantity of the crude fibre was investigated with an enzymatic-gravimetric method according to the AOAC method from 1990. The nivalenol content was identified with gas chromatography. The only physical analysis, the investigation of the husk content was conducted with a compressed air debrainer.

After taking the scans on the NIT unit, the results of the analyses were typed into the apparatus also. The calibration was created with the Norwegian software ICM5. But not all of the samples were taken for the calibration, only two thirds of them which contained the most information were filtered out with the help of the method of Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The other samples got into a so-called test set; with these samples the calibration gets tested afterwards.

In the PCA, possible outliers which have been scanned wrongly, gets eliminated also. Then a connection between scanning results and chemical values was tried for each constituent by the method of Partial Least Squares (PLS) for each constituent. To get a functional calibration it is important to create more than one PLS model for each constituent. If the correlation between the predicted and the true value are satisfactory, the calibration can be transferred to the NIT unit and after adding the temperature and instrument constants it can be used to investigate new samples immediately.
 

Results

The results of the first moisture analyses were significantly lower than the results of the second analyses. This circumstance is explained by the fact that the first set of samples was stored in paper bags in some cases for several years, and of course these samples have lost moisture during this period. The second set of samples was stored in plastic boxes that led to the higher amount of moisture. This different results turned out to be no disadvantage for the calibration. On the contrary, the more different the concentrations of the constituents are, the better applicable is the resulting calibration.

For the calibration for crude fibre not all 108 samples were used, like for the other calibrations; only 40 of the first set of samples could be analysed, because of the high costs.

The minimum detector limit of the used method for nivalenol was 60 µg/kg, unfortunately the contaminations of most of the 70 samples ranged below this value. Only 20 samples could be used for the calibration. Therefore, 45 new samples, which got artificially infected with fusarium isolates, were used for the update. In spite of that fact, only 19 samples were enough contaminated.

Table 1. Results of the analyses
 

After running the calibration program several times, two calibration models seemed to be suitable for practical usage as the main quality character correlation coefficients of the single models were taken. But in one of the two calibrations the stabilisation samples were omitted therefore the standard error of the calibration raised. Moreover after adding the update, the correlations of the calibration containing the stabilisation samples got much better. Therefore this calibration model was taken for later usage.
 

Table 2. Comparison between the two calibrations
 

To test the new calibration, samples out of the test set were analysed and the results compared with the true values from the chemical analyses. When the two numbers differed about always the same value, the possibility was present to change the intercept at the NIT unit. The intercept lowers or rises every prediction about the same amount. So the predicted value can get matched better to the true value.
 

Table 3. Validation of the calibration Ha 198 to the NIT unit
 

Through the update, the calibration was completed with 38 new samples. With this new information, the calibration could be utilized. The correlation of the nivalenol calibration showed that it could not be used, the calibration for the husk content was taken for the final calibration instead. Until then this calibration was treated separately, because a calibration already existed before starting this project and two updates were provided instead of one calibration and one update.
 

Table 4. Correlation coefficients of the final calibration
 

During the test of this final calibration the intercept was changed again several times to achieve optimal results. The five samples on which the calibration worked best were kept as standard samples. These samples now get analysed before the start of calibrations. The results must not differ from the true values more than within a specific range. Because the NIT unit needs a certain time to warm up, most of the samples have to be analysed several times until the proper results are given. Only if the results of all five samples are within the range, new samples can be investigated with this calibration.
 

Discussion

NIT units do not give very accurate results, because they are based on an indirect method of analyses. On the contrary, the predicted values show analytical errors, which are different from constituent to constituent. Plant breeders as practical users of the calibration do not expect exact quantitative results, they would rather know if a sample contains a high or a low amount of a certain constituent. The NIT unit provides the breeders with these possibilities to charge a reliable sample in a short time. Analysing the growing generations every year, the breeder is able to see tendencies in the development of his breeding material. Moreover, to analyse the samples kernels do not have to be milled or dehusked. This is very important in early generations when few material for seeding is available. The figures achieved need an exact estimation provided by a proper calibration technique.

Therefore it is very important to select samples for these calibrations. One possibility is to choose samples randomly out of the whole population or select them under certain aspects. For this project, the method of random selection was used.

To reach a high variability of the samples, white and yellow oats from several years and different locations were used. Some samples were grown under biological circumstances, mainly to bring in different levels of nitrogen fertilisation and therefore different protein contributions. Black oat samples were neglected because it is known from other projects that the dark colour of the husks disturbs the NIT unit measurements. Because of the great variability the scans differed also. That caused outliers in the PCA results. But the elimination of all these possible outliers would narrow the variability of the samples too much. To avoid that and keep the calibration as broadly as possible it is important to find an average course and to accept certain amounts of interference.

The elaborated calibration was used on early generations for the first time with a F₄ generation in the year 1999. Also analysed were the F₅ and higher generations from three Austrian locations. The breeder is happy now with the speed and the accuracy of the results given for moisture, protein, fat, crude fibre, and husk content. To improve the calibration and to utilize it, 20 new samples of the year 1999 will be used to create a second update.
 

References

Baumer, M., Grauf, R., Göppel, W., und Lenz, W. 1993. Der Einsatz der Nah-Infrarot-Transmissionsspektroskopie (NIT) zur Qualitätsanalyse bei Gerste. Bericht über die 44. Arbeitstagung der Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Saatzuchtleiter an der BAL Gumpenstein, 153-159.

Haas, M. 1999. Kalibrierung eines NIT-Gerätes auf Feuchte, Protein, Fett, Ballaststoffe, Nivalenol und Spelzengehalt von Qualitätshafer. Diplomarbeit am Institut für Pflanzenbau und Pflanzenzüchtung an der Universität für Bodenkultur, Wien.

Kölln, P. 1990. Bewußter ernähren mit Haferkleie. Köllnflockenwerke, Broschüre, Ernährungswissenschaftliche Abteilung, Elmshorn/D.

Köster, S. 1989. Methodische Untersuchungen zum Einsatz der Nahinfrarot-Reflexionsspektroskopie (NIRS) in der Körnerrapszüchtung. Wissenschaftliche Mitteilungen der Bundesforschungsanstalt für Landwirtschaft Braunschweig - Völkenrode (FAL), Landbauforschung Völkenrode, Sonderheft 98.
 

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Four lines have been proposed and supported for registration from the Prairie Oat Breeding Consortium program at the Cereal Research Centre (CRC), Winnipeg, Manitoba. These lines are well-adapted for the eastern section of the Canadian Prairies. The four lines carry resistance to smut and to most of the prevalent races of oat crown rust due to the presence of Pc68. The lines also carry Pg2 and Pg13, which confers resistance to the prevalent races of oat stem rust except for the newly emerging race NA67.

OT292 (AC Pinnacle) yielded higher than AC Medallion and CDC Pacer in the black soil zone of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and also yields well in the brown soil zone of Saskatchewan and Alberta (Table 1). AC Pinnacle carries moderate resistance to Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus (BYDV).

OT296 is a tall semi-dwarf oat and yielded well in the black soil zone of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, compared to the checks in the trial (Table 2). OT296 had the best lodging resistance score among all lines for the two years it was tested in the Western Cooperative Oat Yield Trial. It carries moderate resistance to BYDV.

OT297 is a hulless oat, and has improved quality characteristics over the hulless check AC Belmont. OT297 is derived from a cross between AC Belmont and the Pc68 oat crown rust resistance source. OT297 has moderate resistance to BYDV. Specialized and niche markets are opening that can utilize hulless oats, and OT297 should fit nicely into those markets.

OT298 has AC Assiniboia in its background and exceeded the checks for most characteristics, including grain yield, lodging resistance, and milling yield. OT298 is an average height food quality oat. It is moderately susceptible to BYDV.
 

Table 1. Mean agronomic and grain quality data from the 1997 and 1998 Western Cooperative Oat Tests
 

				Percent
Variety	Days to Maturity	TWT (kg/hL)	Grain yield (100 kg/ha)	Plump	Thin	Hull	Milling yield	Protein	Oil	$-glu-can¶
AC Medallion	95.9	49	53.8	65.6	2.5	24	74.7	13	6.5	4.68
CDC Pacer	93.5	48.7	54.9	50.1	3	24	73.6	12.6	6	.....
OT292*	97.4	48.8	59.2	74.3	1.7	24	75.2	12.3	6.5	4.15

* AC Pinnacle
¶ -glucan measured according to AACC 32-23, using the Megazyme test kit. Values were the average of duplicate measurements reported on an "as is" basis, and were averaged over four locations.
 

Table 2. Mean agronomic and grain quality data from the 1998 and 1999 Western Cooperative Oat Tests
 

				Percent*
Variety	Days to Maturity	TWT (kg/hL)	Grain yield (100 kg/ha)	Plump	Thin	Hull	Milling yield	Protein	Oil	$-glu-can¶
AC Medallion	99.2	48.6	57.1	65.8	2.4	23	70	12.2	7	5.33
CDC Pacer	95.7	47.9	57	49	3.5	24	73	11.4	6	5.36
AC Belmont	97.5	50	41.1	5.3	47.6	8	92	12.5	7	5.73
OT296	99.1	49.5	59	57.5	4.6	22	74.1	12.2	7	5.49
OT297	98.5	54.4	46.2	7.7	20.6	5.4	94.6	13.7	8	5.18
OT298	98.9	50.5	58.4	56.6	2.6	24	74.3	13	6	5.31

* 1998 data only except for $-glucan, the values of which were from the 1999 Western Cooperative Oat Test.
¶ Values were based on a dry weight basis and on a single measurement.
$-glucan was measured according to AACC 32-23, using the Megazyme test kit.

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Oat crown rust (Puccinia coronata f. sp. avenae) was first found in trace amounts in southern Manitoba on July 5. Initially, the disease increased slowly due to cool weather, with infections mainly staying at trace levels even after the third week of July. Early seeded fields of susceptible cultivars (e.g., Robert, Riel, Dumont) escaped damage. Crown rust then became severe in the eastern prairie region (Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan). By mid-August, moderate to heavy crown rust infections were commonly found on wild oat and in late maturing fields of susceptible cultivars throughout these regions to as far west as Weyburn, SK. Yield and quality damage due to crown rust in the later maturing fields would likely be significant. In contrast, cultivars AC Assiniboia, AC Medallion (both cultivars have Pc38, Pc39, Pc68) and Triple Crown (Pc48) had trace to light amounts of crown rust, levels too low to cause damage.

Surveys for oat crown rust incidence and severity were conducted in southern Manitoba from early July to mid-August, and in eastern Saskatchewan in mid-August. Crown rust collections were obtained from wild oat (Avena fatua) and commercially grown oat in farm fields, and from susceptible and resistant oat lines and cultivars grown in uniform rust nurseries. A four-letter code (Chong et al. 2000) was used to identify virulence phenotypes of Puccinia coronata f. sp. avenae. Sixteen single-gene oat lines arranged in four groups (subset 1 = Pc40, Pc45, Pc46, Pc50; subset 2 = Pc38, Pc39, Pc48, Pc68; subset 3 = Pc51, Pc52, Pc58, Pc59; subset 4 = Pc54, Pc56, Pc62, Pc64) were used as the primary differential hosts. Single-gene lines with Pc94 and Pc96 were included in the differential sets as supplemental differentials.

One hundred and eighteen virulence phenotypes were identified from 325 single-pustule isolates established from collections from Manitoba and Saskatchewan in 1999. In Ontario, 12 virulence phenotypes were identified from 25 isolates. Frequency and distribution of isolates virulent on the 18 differentials are shown in Table 1. As in recent years, the rust populations in Ontario and eastern prairie region were predominated by isolates with virulence to genes Pc38 and Pc39. The most common virulence phenotype in Ontario was BQBB at 36% of the isolates, followed by BNBB at 20% of the isolates. In the eastern Prairie region, the most common phenotype was BQBB (14.8% of the isolates), followed by BQLB (7.1%), DQBB (5.8%), and LQBB (4.6%). Several isolates were isolated from AC Assiniboia and AC Medallion in the resistant sets. Genes Pc48, Pc68, Pc94, and Pc96 are being used to develop cultivars with different resistance gene combinations in the oat breeding program at the Cereal Research Centre, Winnipeg. Gene Pc94, derived from the diploid Avena strigosa, continues to be highly effective to crown rust as it has since 1992.
 

Reference

Chong, J., Leonard, K.L., and Salmeron, J.J. 2000. A North American system of nomenclature for Puccinia coronata f. sp. avenae. Plant Dis. 84, 580-585.
 
 

Table 1. Frequency and distribution of Puccinia coronata f. sp. avenae isolates virulent on differential lines of Avena sativa with single genes (Pc) for crown rust resistance in Canada in 1999
 

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Oat stem rust (caused by Puccinia graminis f. sp. avenae) has not been a serious disease problem in the eastern prairie region of Canada since the epidemic of 1977. This is due primarily to the incorporation of resistance genes Pg9 and Pg13 into commercially grown cultivars. The frequency of virulence to Pg9 was very high in the eastern prairie region of Canada in the 1950's and early 1960's, prior to the rise in dominance of pathotype NA27 in the late 1960's. During the same time period, virulence to Pg13 also was common. However, stem rust pathotypes virulent to Pg9 and Pg13 (NA3 and NA7) were avirulent to Pg2. Gene Pg2 was widely used as a resistance source in the 1960's, likely suppressing the occurrence of pathotypes NA3 and NA7. From the time that the resistance gene Pg2 was incorporated into oat varieties with Pg13, and sometimes also with Pg9, there had not been a serious stem rust threat to oat production in the eastern prairie region of Canada.

However, stem rust pathotype NA67 appeared in western Canada in 1998 and again in 1999. This pathotype is virulent to all the genes used in the differential set (Pg1, Pg2, Pg3, Pg4, Pg8, Pg9, Pg13, and Pg15) except for Pg16 and Pga. With the combined virulence spectrum on Pg2, Pg9, and Pg13, pathotype NA67 is virulent to all currently grown cultivars in western Canada. The frequency of pathotype NA67 was 21.9% in 1998 (Table 1), representing a dramatic shift of virulence from the 1997 Pg. avenae population. In 1999 the frequency of pathotype NA67 was 32.2% (Table 2). Another new pathotype (NA76) was identified in 1999 that also has virulence to Pg2, Pg9, and Pg13 but differs from NA67 because it is avirulent to Pg15.

Host resistance genes that can be used to control NA67 and NA76 include Pg10, Pg16,and Pga. Studies are currently underway to evaluate oat lines containing these resistance genes in nurseries inoculated with NA67, NA76, and a composite of other pathotypes. These studies will provide valuable information on the usefulness of each gene and for prioritization of incorporating different genes into the currently grown cultivars. Additionally, other germplasm sources such as wild Avena species will be evaluated for novel sources of oat stem rust resistance.
 

Table 1. Isolates of Puccinia graminis f. sp. avenae collected in Manitoba and Saskatchewan in 1998
 

Table 2. Isolates of Puccinia graminis f. sp. avenae collected in Manitoba and Saskatchewan in 1999
 

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Introduction

A four-year project on regeneration and characterization of oat germplasm maintained at Plant Gene Resources of Canada (PGRC) started in 1999. An outline of this four-year project was given in the previous edition of the Oat Newsletter (Vol. 45). This article reports the project's progress.

Oat descriptors

A descriptor list for wild and cultivated oat was generated. This list was finalized after consultation with several Canadian oat breeders and pathologists. Also, genebank curators in the USA, Germany, and Russia were contacted to ensure the relevance of the descriptor list. The characters observed have to serve two purposes: (1) to allow for determination of the botanical species; and (2) to describe the accessions using characters which are of particular interest to plant breeders. The descriptor list for oats applied by PGRC considers three phenological and 34 morphological traits. Of the morphological traits 10 are describing vegetative plant parts and 24 generative plant parts. Many characters of the panicle and in particular of the single florets and seeds are very important for determination of the botanical species. Most of the characters observed and recorded by PGRC are of high heritability and, therefore, of high diagnostic value for taxonomic purposes. Plant breeders, however, are more interested in quantitative traits, which can only be described by conducting field trials with replications. This is beyond the capacities of PGRC. For evaluation of disease resistance traits PGRC is cooperating with the plant pathologists at the Cereal Research Centre of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (J. Chong).

Acquisition of additional germplasm

Recent acquisition of additional germplasm has been mainly limited to acquiring Canadian cultivars. Twenty-one Chinese hulless cultivars and a hulless line with a mutation for sessile florets have entered the collection (V. Burrows, Ottawa). Recently a new tetraploid wild oat species, Avena insularis, has been found on Sicily, Italy. It is morphologically very similar to the hexaploid A. sterilis. This new species can be hybridized with A. sativa and the hybrids are partially self-fertile. Seeds of this species were received from Prof. Dr. G. Ladizinsky, Israel, who detected and described this species (Ladizinsky 1998).

Regeneration and characterization of oat germplasm in 1999

Table 1 summarizes the regeneration of oat germplasm at PGRC in 1999. With the exception of a very few accessions, which did not mature before harvest, field regeneration of cultivated oat was very successful for the accessions of cultivated oat. If the amount of seed available of a particular accession was not sufficient initially, regeneration was conducted in greenhouses. For the wild oat species the situation was very different. The field increase was planted on June 5^th, 1999. Late planting in combination with the cool weather during the 1999 growing season resulted in many accessions not reaching maturity or even heading before the first frost on September 16 terminated any further development. The greenhouse increase of wild oat was much more secure and some seeds could always be harvested. Seed numbers of less than 1000 seeds in the greenhouse were in most cases due to a reduced number of plants planted.
 

Table 1. Number of accessions planted and successfully increased in 1999
 

Use of the characterization data

For 122 accessions of wild oat the botanical species determination was corrected. This clearly demonstrates the importance of morphological observation. However, the species determination is still doubtful in some other cases. For some accessions it is necessary to count the chromosome number to ensure the botanical determination. The collected data will allow for a better overview of the diversity available within the PGRC collection. Queries for accessions with a desired trait or a combination of several desired traits will be possible in the near future. The collected data will be accessible via the Internet, once the technical problems for connecting the PGRC database (GRIN-CA) to the World-Wide-Web have been resolved.

International cooperation

PGRC is working on improving international cooperation for Avena germplasm. Close cooperation between PGRC and the Avena database of the European Cooperative Programme for Conservation and Exchange of Crop Genetic Resources (ECP/GR) is planned. The European Avena database is located at the BAZ Genebank at Braunschweig, Germany. Closer ties between PGRC and the European information network on Avena genetic resources will result in better safeguarding Avena genetic resources internationally. Contact has been established with the curator of the oat collection at the N. I. Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry, Dr. I. Loskutov, to coordinate the characterization of oat germplasm at PGRC with the research done at St. Petersburg.
 

Plans for 2000

This year 3738 accessions of cultivated oat were planted in the field during the third week in May. The Crop Development Centre at University of Saskatchewan (B. Rossnagel) supports the regeneration of germplasm by planting an additional 500 accessions of cultivated oat. During the first week of May PGRC planted 560 accessions of wild oat species in the field. Mostly hexaploid oat accessions of the species A. sterilis were planted, since this species appears to experience less trouble with the outdoor conditions at Saskatoon. Regeneration and characteriz