OAT NEWSLETTER

Business Meeting - 6^th International Oat Conference

Lincoln University, New Zealand

13 November 2000.

Agenda:

Chairman - Brian Rossnagel, Secretary - Richard Cross

1. Welcome and Opening Remarks

2. Minutes of last meeting 15/08/96 Saskatoon Canada

3. Venue and date for 7^th International Oat Conference

4. International Oat Nurseries Report

5. Code of Ethics for oat germplasm exchange

6. Election of IOC chair

7. Nomination of new IOC committee members

8. Other business

9. Close

Agenda items 1 - Welcoming remarks.

Chairman Brian Rossnagel opened and welcomed delegates the meeting.

Agenda item 2 - the minutes of the last meeting 15/08/96, Saskatoon, Sask were read, discussed and accepted as reported.

Agenda item 3 - Venue for 7thIOC.

Seppo Koivula presented Finland's bid to host the next (7^th) International Oat Conference. The proposed date of 18-22 July 2004 was set to coincide with oat flowering time in the field. Criteria for ease of access to all workers in the oat community, ability to raise financial support, and links with business, industry and research were well satisfied. The proposal was accepted unanimously. Local organizing coordinator is Pirjo Pelton-Sainio (pirjo.peltonen-sainio@mtt.fi ).

Agenda item 4 - International oat nursery.

Deon Stuthman presented the case for an international oat nursery. Based on prior consultation with oat workers, he recommended that the nursery be a uniform performance nursery of no more than 200 accessions, with an initial grow-out at Lincoln (NZL) and secondary grow-outs in South America, Canada, USA and Norway. Some researchers expressed concerns over release of germplasm still under development, without adequate intellectual property protection. It was agreed that if you had germplasm in that situation it should not be included in the nursery but that decision would be up to the breeder entering genotypes so should not be a deterrent.

Agenda item 5 - Oat Workers' Code of Ethics.

A code of ethics for germplasm exchange has been developed to address issues of ownership. Although generally accepted, there were reservations from some delegates over the ability to enforce germplasm security. Based on comments received from oat worker from several countries Rossnagel presented a revised code. It was agreed that if no one sent any further objections or editing suggestions to Rossnagel by 31/01/01 the code would be forwarded for publication in the 2001 Oat Newsletter, and is appended to these minutes. The meeting was reminded that this is a "code" and as such would not be legally binding and that oat workers simply need to make their own "ethical" decision as to whether or not to follow the code.

Agenda item 6&7 - International IOC committee.

Richard Cross, the organizing chairman of the 6^th IOC, was nominated and acclaimed as IOC Chair for the 2000 - 2004 period, involving the fostering of germplasm exchange and the provision of assistance with the next (7^th)IOC.

Several changes and additions were suggested for the IOC committee with the resulting list of members for the 2000 - 2004 IOC:

Ricard Jonsson (SWE) replacing Bengt Mattsson

Deon Stuthman (USA)

TBA§ (CAN) replacing Doug Brown

Elizabeth Zechner (AUT)

Trond Buraas (NOR) replacing Magne Gullord

Gideon Ladizinsky (ISR)

Igor Loskutov (RUS)

Ilmar Tamm (EST)

John Valentine (UK)

Luis Federizzi (BRA)

Mike McMullen (USA)

Milton McDaniel (USA)

Pirjo Peltonen-Saino (FIN)

Richard Cross (NZL) Chair

Robyn McLean (AUS)

Romulo Trombetta (ARG)

Toshinobu Morikaw (JAP)

Li Chengxiong (CHN)

Brian Rossnagel (CAN) - Immediate Past-Chair replacing Andrew Barr

§ The Canadian group will nominate a Canadian representative to the IOC committee.

The Chair thanked those who had served on the IOC committee for a number of years and who would no longer be so doing - Bengt Mattsson, Fran Webster and Doug Brown.

It was agreed that the incoming Chair, Richard Cross, should determine if there were appropriate persons from the following countries to be nominated as representatives to the IOC - Poland, Germany, Korea and South Africa.

Chair Rossnagel led a brief discussion regarding the numbers of IOC committee members from any one country. It was agreed that the general rule should be that each country should be represented by one person (except for the country from which the immediate past Chair comes). However, rather than asking committee members from countries currently with more than one member to resign, this should be taken care of as various members resign for other reasons by not replacing those members until only a single member from that country remains.

Agenda item 7 - other business.

Four items of general business:

· Richard Cross tabled the 6^th IOC chairman's report, which indicated the overall programme structure, special acknowledgements to sponsors, programme committee and attending delegates, and statement of income and expenditure with an overall cost neutral financial position.

· For general information, Rossnagel described a new Plant Gene Resources Centre of Canada (PGRC) project, to be led by Dr. Yong-Bi Fu, to characterize the world oat collection of 27,000 accessions over the next few years, involving molecular analysis and phylogenetic studies with the establishment of a core collection. It was agreed that the IOC committee should attempt to liase with the PGRC re: the development of an oat core collection.

· Solomon Kibite expressed concern that the gene nomenclature for oats had not been updated since the catalogue by Simmons et al. (1978). He indicated that a revision and update is required, with symbols and assignments to be consistent with guidelines with other crops, transgenics, DNA markers etc., and ideally published as yearly updates in (say) the oat newsletter. The chair encouraged those interested in this area to attempt to re-establish the activity of the Oat Gene Nomenclature committee to attempt to resolve these issues.

· Brian Rossnagel and John Valentine responded to concerns raised by John Stevens over restricted access to patent (PVR) oat varieties. The response, confirmed as general practice by delegates, was that patent or PVR did not prevent access, but any restrictive practice of access to release germplasm due to other (not specified) factors.

Agenda item 8 - close of meeting.

On behalf of all those gathered for the 6^th IOC Brian Rossnagel sincerely thanked the organizers and sponsors of the 6^th International Oat Conference for putting together an excellent conference. Specific thanks were directed towards Richard Cross and Keith Armstrong.

Brian Rossnagel finally thanked all delegates for attending and participating in the IOC business meeting and expressed best wishes for a successful 7^th International Oat Conference in Helsinki, July 2004.

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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 property 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. I, therefore, agree to support the following principles:

• Owners, as well as originating breeders, stations, or companies have 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.

 
• The owner/breeder, in distributing seeds of plant materials of unreleased oat germplasm, grants permission for their use (1) in trials under the recipient's control, and (2) as parents for making crosses for use in basic research or for selection leading to the development of cultivars. Use of unreleased germplasm for which written approval from the owner/breeder is required include: selecting from the stock; induction of mutations; insertion of recombinant DNA; production of somaclones; use in backcrosses for addition of a gene(s) controlling a specific trait; testing at outlying locations; use as parents in commercial F1 hybrids or as components in synthetic or multiline cultivars; or seed increases and release as a cultivar.

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

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

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

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

 

 
 
 
 
 

I agree to follow the policies set forth in the INTERNATIONAL OAT WORKER'S CODE OF ETHICS FOR OAT GERMPLASM EXCHANGE:

_____________________________________________________________________________________
Name (Printed)                                                     Signature                                                         Date

_____________________________________________________________________________________
Title Institution/Station/Company

_____________________________________________________________________________________
Address

_____________________________________________________________________________________
 

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North Carolina 2002 American Oat Workers Conference

Paul Murphy

Department of Crop Science
Box 7629, NC State University, Raleigh, NC 27695
njpm@unity.ncsu.edu

The 2002 American Oat Workers Conference will be held at the Hilton Riverside Hotel, Wilmington, NC on May 4-8, 2002.

Recent advances in oat research in the areas of breeding and genetics, biotechnology, plant pathology, agronomy, and end-user will be presented by invited speakers. Poster sessions will provide opportunities for all attendees to present their latest research and results.

Wilmington is a historic port city on the Cape Fear River in an area renowned for its beaches, golf courses, fishing, and general recreation.

For further information, contact Paul Murphy at the postal or e-mail address above or by phone at 919-513-0000.
 

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II     REPORTS
 
 

AUSTRALIA

Breeding Improved Oat Varieties for Feed, Milling, and Hay End-use in South Eastern Australia

P.K. Zwer, S.D. Hoppo, T.M. Hoppo, D.K. Schaefer, J.E. Emery, P.J. Smith, and D.J. Edwards

South Australian Research & Development Institute (SARDI)
GPO Box 397, Adelaide, South Australia 5001
zwer.pamela@saugov.sa.gov.au

Background and Benefits

Currently available oat varieties are not meeting agronomic and quality characters required to capture emerging and expanding sectors for specific oat end uses in south eastern Australia. For example, the classic milling variety, Mortlock, yields 30% less than the poorer quality, low protein, semi-dwarf, Echidna. Another milling variety, Euro, is susceptible to stem rust, intolerant to cereal cyst nematode (CCN) and also has low protein. The high yielding feed variety, Potoroo, has poor foliar disease resistance and low protein. Marloo, the primary variety used to produce hay for the export hay industry, has poor foliar disease resistance and colour. The aims of the oat breeding program are to release a portfolio of new varieties that combine improved disease resistance with higher yield and quality for growers, food processors, and animal production systems.

An opportunity exists to expand oat exports for both grain and hay. Export of oat grain could increase significantly over the current 210,000 tonnes, due to the opening of the North American market to Australian oats. Although there are still issues to resolve concerning nil tolerance for Avena sterilis in US oat shipments. Most oats exported from Australia are from South Australia and Western Australia. The new export market would result in an increase in the price per tonne to Australian growers.

Despite the flat market outlook for feed oats, there is significant genetic potential to improve feed oat nutritional values. New releases with oil content increased from 7 to 10% and protein content increased from 12 to 14% could impact the feed industry.

Japan currently imports approximately 3.5 m tonnes of fodder each year to feed dairy and beef cattle. Hay exports from Australia to Japan have increased from 170,000 tonnes in 1997 to 360,000 tonnes in 1999. There is potential for further growth in exports of about 10% per year. Over 400,000 tonnes of hay/straw were exported in 2000 and could continue to increase to about 500,000 tonnes in the next few years. Currently about 148,000 tonnes of hay were exported from South Australia and 95,000 tonnes from Victoria. However, market growth is dependent on reliable palatability. In order to provide consistent highly palatable oaten hay, grading systems for fodder are being refined and some hay processors now include minimum water soluble carbohydrate levels and monitor shear energy along with the traditional characters, such as digestibility. With the refined grading system other markets such as Taiwan, Korea, the Middle East, and Pacific Islands may expand. An increase in domestic intensive livestock production will also provide new opportunities for premium fodder domestically.

Benefits from the release of improved oat hay varieties will influence growers, processors, and the customer. Indirect benefits of oat hay production to the grains industry are reflected in the management of soil borne diseases, such as take-all and CCN, and herbicide-resistant rye grass in the rotation.
 

The Breeding Program

The most advanced yield trials, stage 4, are sown at 17 sites in South Australia. Seven trial sites are sown by the Oat Breeding Group of which two sites are sown to evaluate cereal cyst nematode tolerance and one site to assess stem nematode tolerance. The stage 1 unreplicated yield trial is sown at two locations, whereas the stage 2 (unreplicated) and stage 3 yield trials are sown at all seven sites. The SARDI Field Crop Evaluation group sows 11 stage 4 oat trials in South Australia. Agriculture Victoria sows three trials in Victoria and Glenn Roberts, and Agriculture NSW sows two trials in southern New South Wales.

Several diseases reduce yield and quality in the southern region. Cereal cyst nematode is prevalent in South Australia and stem nematode is found in limited areas of the state. Resistant reactions for CCN and stem nematode are assessed by the SARDI Field Crop Pathology Nematode Group, whereas the oat breeding group evaluates tolerance for both nematodes in field trials. Stem rust has been the most serious disease of oats in the last two years. Hence, breeding for improved levels of stem rust resistance is a high priority for the program. Seedling and adult plant reactions for stem and leaf rust are assessed by the National Cereal Rust Laboratory, the University of Sydney Plant Breeding Institute. Stem rust, leaf rust, barley yellow dwarf virus, septoria, red leather leaf, and bacterial blight are evaluated in field experiments conducted by the oat breeding group when natural field infections occur. Glenn Roberts (Agriculture NSW) also assesses BYDV resistance for stage 2, stage 3, and stage 4 entries using viruliferous aphids in field trials.

Quality assessments for both grain and hay are essential components of the breeding program. Both NIR and digital imaging are used to characterize breeding lines for grain quality. NIR calibrations were developed to predict moisture, protein, oil, and groat percent. NIR assessments begin with grain from F3 headhills and continue as lines progress through the program. Physical quality characters, such as hectolitre weight, screenings percent, and 1000 grain weight, are evaluated for entries in stage1 to stage 4 yield trials. Digital imaging was used in the breeding program for the first time this year. Fourteen seed characters were measured.

Grain harvested from two locations of the stage 4 trial and one location of the stage 3 trials were imaged. Hay quality is also predicted using NIR calibrations for digestibility, crude protein, shear energy, water soluble carbohydrates, acid detergent fibre, and neutral detergent fibre. Samples from the stage 4 hay trial grown at three locations are assessed by Dr. David Henry, CSIRO Animal Production Centre for Mediterranean Agricultural Research, Perth.
 

Achievements and Outputs

Three new oat varieties were released in 1999. Quoll, OX87080-2, is a high yielding semi-dwarf variety with improved feed quality and foliar disease resistance compared to Echidna. Quoll has PBR and was commercialized by the seed company, SGB Australia. Glider, Q83-140, is a late maturing variety with improved foliar disease resistance for hay production in high rainfall areas. Glider was commercialized by the Australian Field Crop Association. Numbat, OX88045-11, is a naked oat with slightly improved yield potential and grain quality when compared to Bandicoot. It was a public release due to limited production in Australia. Small, but consistent markets exist for the racehorse industry, human consumption, and birdseed.

Two advanced breeding lines SA88083-4 and SA87103-109 were selected for variety release. They will replace Marloo and Wallaroo, varieties used primarily for hay production. SA88083-4 is a mid-season oat line with improved dry matter production in low, medium, and high rainfall areas. SA88083-4 has CCN resistance and tolerance, stem nematode tolerance, and moderate resistance to barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) and septoria. Although the line is primarily suited to hay production, it yielded from 0.2 to 0.4 tonnes per hectare more grain than Marloo in all rainfall zones. Hectolitre weight, 1000 kernel weight, and screenings percent were also an improvement over Marloo. SA87103-109 is a tall line about three to four days earlier than Marloo. It is moderately resistant to stem and leaf rust, resistant and moderately tolerant to CCN, and intolerant to stem nematode. SA87103-109 has a hay yield advantage over Wallaroo. It is also adapted to low, medium, and high rainfall zones. SA87103-109 represents an improvement in the quality character, digestibility.

The advanced breeding line, SA91024-7, is being considered for release as an improved semi-dwarf milling variety. SA91024-7 has yield potential similar to Echidna, but quality similar to Euro. Euro yields about 10% less than Echidna, but has superior chemical and physical characters for milling. SA91024-7 is moderately susceptible to stem rust, resistant to leaf rust, and moderately resistant to septoria.

Approximately 62 F5 lines were promoted to stage 2 unreplicated trials with stem rust resistance and improved protein, groat percent, and other physical quality characters. These lines are selections from crosses with North Dakota stem rust resistant parents, moderate resistance in adapted lines, and Euro.

Approximately 15 F5 high oil lines were selected from the 31 F4 lines and promoted to stage 2 trials. These lines have the best combination of agronomics, disease resistance, and quality. The high oil character is associated with high screenings percent. Thus an additional 100 lines with poor physical quality, but high oil were selected as parents for the crossing program.

Lines adapted to low rainfall zones were assessed at the Minnipa Research Centre and at Waikerie. Approximately 20 lines in the stage 3 tall grain and hay trials look promising at both locations. The most promising selections will be promoted in stage 4 trials in 2001.

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Development of Doubled Haploid Technology for Oat Breeding and Gene Mapping

P.A Davies¹, P.K. Sidhu¹, T. Aung², J.E. Emery¹, and P.K. Zwer¹

¹South Australian Research & Development Institute (SARDI)
GPO Box 397, Adelaide, South Australia 5001
²Cereal Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
195 Dafoe Road, Winnipeg, MB, Canada R3T 2M9
davies.phil@saugov.sa.gov.au

Methods for the production of oat DHs are still in the early developmental stage in comparison with barley and wheat. However significant advances have been made in recent years which may serve as a basis for efficiency gains (Aung, 1998). Early research on oat DHs focused on microspores as donor tissue (Rines et al. 1996) with the first oat DH reported in 1983 by Rines and subsequent improvements developed by Kiviharju et al. (2000). However, the efficiency DH production from microspores is extremely low. A more promising approach is to use the female gametes as donor tissue by pollinating oat with maize (Rines and Dahleen, 1990; Aung, 1998). The maize chromosomes are eliminated from most embryos to produce haploid embryos which may be rescued in vitro and transferred to soil, after which their chromosome complement may be doubled with colchicine to restore fertility.

We are using the methods described by Aung (1998) as a starting point for developing a more efficient method for oat DH production. To date we have produced DHs from the following cultivars and breeding lines: AK-1, Carrolup, Dumont, 12Zop95, and Mortlock. An average of 50% of pollinated florets produce a caryopsis with 7% of the caryopses containing an embryo. There is significant variability between genotypes for capacity to produce haploid embryos. We are currently investigating the effect of different growth regulator applications on embryo viability and growth. There is also variability for the in vitro germination response of the embryos which ranges between 0 to 92% depending on genotype and growth regulator application.

DHs are also an important tool for the development of molecular genetic maps. We are currently developing mapping populations of the crosses Glider/AK1 and AK5/SA93123-12 to identify markers important for grain and hay quality.

Our future research will focus on manipulating growth regulator application post-pollination and modifying components of the embryo rescue medium to improve the efficiency of DH production.
 

References

Aung, T. 1998. Development and use of doubled haploids in oats. Oat Newsletter 44: 19-21. ed. James Chong.

Kiviharju, E., Puolimatka, M., Saastamoinen, M., and Pehu, E. 2000. Extension of anther culture to several genotypes of cultivated oats. Plant Cell Reports 19: 674-679.

Rines, H.W. 1983. Oat anther culture: Genotype effects on callus initiation and the production of a haploid plant. Crop Sci. 23: 268-272.

Rines, H.W. and Dahleen, L.S. 1990. Haploid oat plants produced by application of maize pollen to emasculated oat florets. Crop Sci. 30: 1073-1078.

Rines, H.W., Riera-Lizarazu, O., Nunez, V.M., Davis, D.W., and Phillips, R.L. 1996. Oat haploids from anther culture and from wide hybridizations. In: In vitro haploid production in higher plants, Vol. 4, 205-221. Kluwer, the Netherlands.

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Identification of Molecular Markers Linked to Disease Resistance and Quality Traits for Use in Marker Assisted Selection

K. Williams, K. Willsmore, S. Olson, P. Zwer, S. Hoppo, and J. Emery

South Australian Research & Development Institute (SARDI)
GPO Box 397, Adelaide, South Australia 5001
williams.kevin@saugov.sa.gov.au

As a prelude to mapping, parental screening of RFLP probes was conducted. Forty-five probes revealed polymorphism and have been mapped as anchor loci in the Potoroo x Mortlock population. In addition, 71 AFLP loci have been mapped. It is anticipated that several hundred more AFLP loci will be added to the map.

Several traits were measured with the limited seed available in 2000, and QTL analysis conducted using MapManager QTX. Several putative QTLs were identified for quality traits. F8 lines were evaluated for CCN resistance using a bioassay, and QTLs for CCN resistance from both parents were identified.

Prior to map construction, bulked-segregant analysis (BSA) was initiated and resistance-linked AFLP markers identified. The BSA-derived AFLP markers were mapped and form part of the major QTL for the CCN resistance contributed by Potoroo, validating the effectiveness of the bulked-segregant technique.

Future work will focus on verifying QTLs with further phenotypic data, and increasing the density of the map with more AFLP markers.

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Items from Australia

Oat stem rust was widespread in Australian cereal growing districts in 2000, however the number of samples received for pathogenicity analysis was relatively low. The main pathotype identified was 94, especially in Western Australia, with a mixture of pathotypes in the eastern states. Virulence for Pga was rare compared to previous seasons. There were reports of concerning levels of stem rust in oat crops in southern parts of WA, and of severe stem rusting in Euro oats in Victoria.

Crown rust was widespread and common on wild oats in WA and in southern parts of eastern Australia, however the number of samples received in 2000 was lower than in recent years. As is usually the case, most samples comprised mixtures of two or more pathotypes, and again, considerable effort was put into subculturing components of mixtures to allow accurate identification of pathotypes. From the 91 samples received, 18 failed to yield a viable isolate, and 137 isolates comprising 17 pathotypes were identified from the remaining 73 samples (Table olr).

The differential set used to characterize isolates was added to during 2000, and comprises three sub-sets:
 

• H548, WIX4361-9, Amagalon, Culgoa, Cleanleaf, Pc68, TAM 0301, TAM 0312, Pc61, Pc38, Pc39, Swan.
• Pc36, Pc46, Pc50, Pc51, Pc52, Pc55, Pc56, Pc63, Pc64, Pc71, X716.
• Warrego, Bettong, Barcoo, Landhafer, Santa Fe, Ukraine, Trispernia, Bondvic, Pc45, Pc48, Nugene, Gwydir.

 
The first two sets are used for pathotype designation; a triplet code is given on the basis of pathogenicity on the first set, and in the second set, differentials are numbered from 1 to 11 and the differentials on which isolates are virulent is indicated by listing the correpsonding numbers (e.g., 0207-4,6,10 is triplet code 0207, and is virulent on Pc51, Pc55, and Pc71).
 
Of importance during 2000 was the detection of virulences for the cultivars Nugene and Gwydir. Virulence for Nugene was detected in a single sample received from Qld early in 2000, with the pathotype responsible a single-step mutational derivative of the Cleanleaf pathotype, 0207-4,6,10. Virulence for Gwydir was also detected in a sample from Qld, and again, the virulent pathotype appears to be a derivative from the Cleanleaf group of pathotypes (0207-1,4,6,10,11,12+Gwydir). Both Nugene and Gwydir were released as a leaf rust resistant cultivars, and the detection of virulence for them further demonstrates the ability of the oat leaf rust pathogens to overcome the resistance of newly released cultivars. Similar experiences have occurred in recent years with the cultivars Cleanleaf, Culgoa, Warrego, Graza 68, and Moola. Whilst Graza 68 and Moola are known to carry Pc68, the resistances present in Cleanleaf, Culgoa, Warrego, Nugene, and Gwydir all differ from each other in specificity, and are clearly different from the resistances in the differentials used.
 
Overall pathotype distribution was similar to that observed in 1998 and 1999. Virulence for Pc68 (present in Graza 68 and Moola), first detected in 1999, was common in samples from northern NSW and Qld. The common occurrence of virulence for Pc38, Pc39, PcCleanleaf, and Pc61 in Qld and NSW and low frequency or absence in other regions, seen in recent years, was also apparent during 2000. The most common pathotypes in Qld and NSW were the Amby pathotype (0071-0), the Cleanleaf pathotype or several derivatives, and pt 0001-0. In other states, pts 0000-2 or 0001-0 were most common, continuing a pattern observed in 1998 and 1999.
 
Virulence was detected for all current cultivars except Bettong and Barcoo, which remain the only recommended cultivars for which virulence has not yet been detected. A genetic analysis of the resistance in these cultivars conducted by Mr. Shahidul Haque at PBIC has revealed that Bettong carries two resistance genes against pt 0207-4,6,10, but only one against pt 0071-0, and that Barcoo has three resistance genes effective against pt 0071-0, but only one against pt 4473-4,6,10. A genetic study is now needed to assess the relationship between the genes in these two cultivars. The single effective resistance genes in these cultivars may be vulnerable to pathogenic changes in the crown rust pathogen, particularly as pts 0071-0 and 4473-4,6,10 are common in NSW and Qld at present.
 
Virulence was detected for Pc94, in an isolate collected from experimental plots at PBIC. The pathotype is a variant of the Amby pathotype, 0071-0, and combines virulence for Pc94 with virulence for Pc58, Pc59, Pc61, Pc45, Landhafer, Santa Fe, Ukraine, Trispernia, and Bondvic.
 
Virulence was not detected for Pc91 and has not been detected in surveys to date.

 

AUSTRIA
 

New Selection Strategies for Breeding High Quality Oats for the Food Industry

Elisabeth Zechner

Saatzucht Edelhof, A-3910 Zwettl, Austria
e.zechner@saatzucht.edelhof.at

Oat quality receive more and more importance in the last few years as a contribution towards a more healthier nutrition for humans. The protein and fat content of oats are specially characterized additionally by its favourable combination of various amino acids and fatty acids, but the crude fibre content contributes also to its high ranked value in human and animal nutriton.

Oat breeders are forced to take all this into consideration, particularly in early generation materials. Thus, non-destructive screening methods are helpful tools to match this goal about grain constituents. Traditional methods require high impact of manpower and grain material, but now Near Infrared Transmission methods (NIT) are an optimal choice to overcome these problems. It needs only whole grains of small samples which can then further be used for the enhancement of the further generations and no specialized personnel are necessary to tackle the job satisfactorily.

With the research project mentioned above, an attempt is being made to introduce special calibration references for oats for the determination of the contents of moisture, protein, fat, crude fibre, husks, and the mycotoxin Nivalenol.

2.    Material and methods

In the year 1997, the Plant Breeding Station Edelhof offered free access for testing breeding material of F4 and F5 generations with this techniques, additionally to the classical screening characters listed below (marked with *):

 
 

1. early growth	12. leaf stripe	23. thousand kernel weight
2. growth habit	13. plant height	24. dehulling*
3. homogenity	14. lodging resistance	25. husk content
4. tillering	15. maturity	26. colour of kernel*
5. time of panicle emergence	16. homogenity	27. shape of kernel*
6. type of panicles and type of flowering*	17. moisture	28. fat content*
7. mildew	18. yield	29. protein content*
8. crown rust	19. colour of lemma	30. crude fibre*
9. stem rust	20. shape of grain*	31. bacteria and mycotoxins*
10. head blight *	21. colour of grain*	32. black fungus*
11. homogeneity	22. volume weight

· Based on these new mass screening methods, prospective breeding material for high nutrition value oats was developed which fits the expectations of the food and the feed industry simultaneously

· This improvement in selection strategies used in early generations saved seed and manpower and enhanced the breeding progress considerably. The optically achieved figures correlated nicely with the content figures elaborated with the traditionally wet chemistry methods.

· Thus, direct selections of useful genotypes from crossing populations between Australian genetic oat resources with loose panicles, low husk content, and extremely early maturity and Chilean oat genotypes, characterized by compact panicles, low husk content, and late maturity were possible and successful.

· The hypothesis that oats with loose panicles are less susceptible to fungal infestations and therefore lower mycotoxin contents could not be confirmed.

· Preparations of oat lines with top qualities are on the way now to the National Variety Testing Office for applying the status of registered varieties and Plant Breeding Rights.

References

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.

Thanks to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in Austria for the research project L 1080/97 "Neue Selektionsstrategien zur Züchtung von Qualitätshafer speziell für die Nahrungsmittelindustrie" in cooperation with the University for Agricultural Sciences, Plant Breeding Department, Vienna; Saatzucht Edelhof, Verein zur Förderung der Mohn- und Getreidezüchtug, both Zwettl and the Institute for Agrobiotechnology, Plant Breeding Department, Tulln.

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CANADA
 

ONTARIO

Spring Oat Populations for Sale

Leslie Shugar

Hyland Seeds, W. G. Thompson & Sons, Nairn Research Laboratory,
R # 1, Ailsa Craig, Ontario, Canada N0M 1A0
lshugar@hylandseeds.com

General information

Dr. Marshall crossed numerous parents obtained from various oat breeders in the USA and other countries and also intercrossed some of his best derived lines to produce the various populations. Although many of the parents have effective levels of resistance to certain races of the rust inciting fungi, the populations are not likely to produce genotypes with satisfactory resistance to newer races of (Puccinia coronata f. sp. avenae) and (P. graminis f. sp. avenae) in those areas of the USA and Canada where rust diseases may be a problem.

The bulk breeding method was used to advance the populations in generations so they are highly heterogeneous with variable amounts of heterozygosity depending on the generation. All populations were grown in 6-row strips at least 7 m long each year using high levels of nitrogen fertilizer (so as to increase lodging stress). These strips provided sufficient seed to facilitate the use of mass selection pressure for seed size and weight during each generation starting with the F3. After smaller seeds had been eliminated by screening, a small gravity seed grader was used to sort heavy seeds from the remaining seeds. This mass selection was the only controlled selection pressure used on the populations. There were several years when natural selection undoubtedly resulted in desirable changes in the populations gene pools because of various environmental and disease stresses.

Dr. Marshall discarded many entire populations if they had low selection potential because of weaknesses such as low yield, poor lodging resistance, extreme disease, or poor seed characteristics. The various remaining populations have excellent selection potential for superior lodging resistance, high grain test weights, and improved seed characteristics such as large groat size, low trichome density, and high contents of protein and oil.
 

Naked-seeded populations

The generation range of the 71 naked-seeded populations will be from F6 through F13 when next grown. Many of the naked-seeded populations were developed by intercrossing naked-seeded and hulled-seeded parents. As demonstrated by Lanini and Marshall (1990), gravity grading effectively mass selects for naked-seeded genotypes in such populations because most of the hulled seeds are quickly eliminated into the light seed component. As a result, future generations of these populations will be mostly naked-seeded genotypes and this will facilitate concentrated selection of those types. In addition, the gravity grading procedure provided mass selection pressure that favoured plump, well-filled groats. The populations also have good potential for selection of genotypes with low trichome densities on the groats since Dr. Marshall discarded populations that produced mostly "hairy" groats. In tests grown in the USA, Canada, and Europe, during recent years, Dr. Marshall's naked-seeded lines have had excellent lodging resistance and produced groats with superior combinations of oil and protein contents, low trichome density, large groat size, and high test weight. Based on the diversity of parents used, yield potential also should be good - especially when lines are selected under conditions in the region where they will be grown.
 

Hulled-seeded Populations

The generation range of these 68 populations will be F5 through F15 when next grown. The major emphasis in developing these populations were placed on outstanding lodging resistance, wide maturity range, wide range in plant height, and production of relatively large, attractive seed size combined with high grain test weight. Parents with exceptional lodging resistance included the 'Pennlo' semi-dwarf and 'Pennuda' naked-seeded cultivars as well as other lodging resistant parental lines from Dr. Marshall's past program while working for ARS-USDA at the Pennsylvania State University.

Based on lines that have been derived to date, these hulled populations have excellent potential to yield genotypes possessing exceptional lodging resistance combined with good seed characteristics and heavy grain test weights. Plant height variability within certain populations ranges down to semi-dwarfs, and several populations include some exceptionally early maturing genotypes. There also is good genetic variability for protein content in certain populations with values of extracted lines ranging up to about 21% on a groat basis. Several derived lines in current tests in the USA and Canada have produced yields similar to the best cultivars now grown in the eastern USA, and they are more lodging resistant with grain 2 to 4 lb/bu (2.6 to 5.2 kg/hl) heavier in test weight.
 

Additional Information

Interested breeders may request pedigree lists (including Dr. Marshall's field comments on the populations) and price information from the author, or if they prefer to contact Dr. Marshall, he can be reached at the following address:

        Harold G. Marshall Telephone: 814-383-4118
        Marshall Farm
        1422 E. College, Ave. e-mail: hgm2@psu.edu
        Bellefonte, PA 16823
        USA
 

Reference

Lanini, Brenda J., and H.G. Marshall. 1990. Selection for high specific gravity seed in oat populations heterogeneous for naked genotypes. Crop Sci. 30: 565-567.

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MANITOBA
 

Oat Breeding at Cereal Research Centre of Agriculture & Agri-food Canada

Jennifer Mitchell Fetch

Cereal Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada,
195 Dafoe Rd., Winnipeg, MB R3T 2M9.
jfetch@em.agr.ca

OT296 was given the name AC Ronald, to honour Dr. Ron McKenzie, an oat breeder at the Cereal Research Centre from 1959 to 1985. AC Ronald is a tall semi-dwarf oat with good yielding capacity in the black soil zone of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, compared to the checks in the trial. AC Ronald has excellent lodging resistance. AC Ronald has good resistance to most of the diseases prevalent in the Manitoba growing areas.

OT297 was given the name AC Gwen in honour of Gwen McKenzie, wife of Ron. Gwen has assisted with the harvest at the New Zealand winter nursery for many years. AC Gwen is a hulless oat, with improved quality characteristics over the hulless check AC Belmont. AC Gwen also has good disease resistance to most of the prevalent crown rust and stem rust pathotypes found in Manitoba.

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Oat Crown Rust in Canada in 2000

James Chong

Cereal Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
195 Dafoe Road, Winnipeg, MB, Canada R3T 2M9
jchong@em.agr.ca

Crown rust was less severe in southern Manitoba and more severe and widespread in south-eastern Saskatchewan in 2000 than in previous years. Traces of crown rust infections were first observed on wild oat (Avena fatua L.) near Emerson, MB, on July 9. Subsequent conditions were cool with above average rainfall, limiting the development of the rust during most of the growing season in Manitoba. By mid-August, crown rust severities ranging from trace to moderate levels (up to 70%) were found on wild oat, and trace to 20% crown rust severities were observed on late seeded commercial oat fields in southern Manitoba. Early seeded fields of susceptible cultivars (e.g., Robert and Riel) escaped damage. Crown rust infections remained at trace levels in field plots of the cultivar, AC Assiniboia (Pc38, Pc39, Pc68), and ranged from light to 20% in field plots of Triple Crown (Pc48). In various locations across eastern Saskatchewan from Estevan to Assiniboia, crown rust severities ranging from 20% to 80% were commonly found on wild oat, and severities ranging from 5% to 40% were found on late seeded commercial oat fields. This was the most severe and widespread occurrence of crown rust in south-eastern Saskatchewan for many years.

Frequency and distribution of crown rust isolates virulent on differential oat lines with single genes for crown rust resistance in Canada in 2000 is shown in Table 1. Over 63% of isolates were virulent to crown rust resistance genes Pc38 and Pc39 in both eastern and western Canada. Virulence frequency to Pc48 increased slightly from 6% in 1999 to 12% in 2000, whereas virulence to Pc96 remained low at 1%. Gene Pc94, derived from the diploid Avena strigosa, continues to be highly effective to crown rust; none of the isolates were virulent to this gene in 2000.

A four-letter code system (Chong et al. 2000) is being used to designate crown rust races, using 16 single crown rust resistance gene lines as primary differentials (Table 2) and two additional single-gene lines (Pc94, Pc96) as supplemental differentials. One hundred and fifteen virulence phenotypes (races) were identified from 275 single-pustule isolates established from collections from Manitoba and Saskatchewan in 2000. Seventy of the virulence phenotypes were detected only once. From Ontario, 25 virulence phenotypes were identified from 61 isolates, and 15 of the phenotypes were detected once. The most virulence phenotype in Ontario was BQBB (19.7%), followed by BQBG (13.1%) and BLBB (9.8%). The most common virulence phenotype in southern Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan was BBBB (8.0%), followed by BQBB (7.2%) and DQBB (6.2%). Several isolates were identified to have combined virulence to genes Pc38, Pc39 and Pc68, found in AC Assiniboia and AC Medallion, and in more recent cultivars, AC Pinnacle, AC Ronald and AC Gwen. Genes Pc94 and Pc96 are being used in the oat breeding program at the Cereal Research Centre, Winnipeg, to enhance current cultivars that have Pc68 or Pc48.
 

Reference

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

 

Resistance gene line	Ontario		Manitoba/Saskatchewan
	No. of isolates	%	No. of isolates	%
Pc40	3	4.9	102	37.0
Pc45	2	3.3	0	0
Pc46	2	3.3	102	37.0
Pc50	0	0	17	6.2
Pc38	39	63.9	185	67.0
Pc39	40	65.5	202	73.2
Pc48	1	1.6	33	12.0
Pc68	1	1.6	4	1.4
Pc51	5	8.2	106	38.4
Pc52	1	1.6	34	12.3
Pc58	0	0	2	0.7
Pc59	0	0	24	8.7
Pc54	3	4.9	3	1.1
Pc56	29	47.5	76	27.5
Pc62	5	8.2	5	1.8
Pc64	5	8.2	7	2.5
Pc94	0	0	0	0
Pc96	3	4.9	3	1.1
Total	61	100	276	100

TABLE 3. Letter code designations for virulence phenotypes of Puccinia coronata f. sp. avenae in North America, using sixteen differential Pc-gene Avena sativa lines, in ordered subsets of four differentials
 

		Infection typeb produced on single-gene Pc line
	Pc gene subset 1:	40	45	46	50
	Pc gene subset 2:	38	39	48	68
	Pc gene subset 3:	51	52	58	59
Pca codea	Pc gene subset 4:	54	56	62	64
B		L	L	L	L
C		L	L	L	H
D		L	L	H	L
F		L	L	H	H
G		L	H	L	L
H		L	H	L	H
J		L	H	H	L
K		L	H	H	H
L		H	L	L	L
M		H	L	L	H
N		H	L	H	L
P		H	L	H	H
Q		H	H	L	L
R		H	H	L	H
S		H	H	H	L
T		H	H	H	H

^aPca code consists of the designation for subset 1 followed by that for subset 2, etc. For example, phenotype LQBB = subset 1 (L), virulent only to Pc40; subset 2 (Q), virulent only to Pc38, 39; subset 3 (B), avirulent to all four lines; subset 4 (B), avirulent to all four lines.

^bL = low infection type (avirulent reaction), H = high infection (virulent reaction).

 

Genetics of Resistance to Crown Rust in a Partially Resistant Oat Line MN841801

James Chong

Cereal Research Centre, Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada
195 Dafoe Road, Winnipeg, MB, Canada R3T 2M9
jchong@em.agr.ca

 

Materials and Methods

Crosses and progeny

AC Assiniboia is an oat cultivar released for production in Canada in 1995 (P.D. Brown, unpublished). It possesses crown rust resistance genes Pc38, Pc39 and Pc68. Of these genes, Pc68 is the only one that is still effective against the prevalent P. coronata f. sp. avenae isolates in Canada. Plants from line MN841801 were used as pollen parents in crosses with AC Assiniboia. A single seed descent (SSD) procedure was used to produce a set of 154 random F₇-derived F₉ (F_7:9) SSD lines, i.e., seed from F₇ plants was increased as F₈ lines and tested as F₉ lines.

Rust isolates

Crown rust races NQBB (CR200), BRBB (CR250), and BRBB (CR251), used in this study, were obtained from annual crown rust surveys in Manitoba. The CR number designations enclosed in brackets are Cereal Research Centre accession numbers for the isolates. Crown rust isolate CR200 is virulent on line MN841801 at the seedling stage and at all growth stages on single-gene lines with Pc38 and Pc39. It is avirulent (0 IT) on AC Assiniboia due to the presence of Pc68. CR250 is virulent on Assiniboia at all growth stages and produces an immune seedling reaction (0 IT) on MN841801. CR251 also is virulent on Assiniboia at all growth stages but virulent on MN841801 only at the seedling stage. This isolate, as well as CR200, typically produces a resistant IT ;1 or IT ;12 on MN841801 at the adult-plant stage.
 

Rust tests

In growth chamber tests three sets of the 154 F_7:9 SSD lines were planted, approximately 20 plants from each line per pot. These sets were inoculated separately with CR200, CR250 and CR251. Infection types (ITs) on seedlings were scored 12 days after inoculation, using a 0-4 scale; ITs of 0, ;, 1 and 2 were considered resistant and ITs of 3 and 4 susceptible. After rust readings were recorded, the lines that had been inoculated with CR200 and CR251 were thinned from 20 plants to four plants per pot. The plants (eight per line in two pots) were then raised to adults, when the flag leaves were inoculated with CR251. The infection types on the flag leaves were determined at 14-16 days after inoculation using the 0-4 scale described above.

 

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

When tested with CR250 at the seedling stage, 142 random F_7:9 lines were resistant (IT 0, ; or 12), 3 segregating, and 9 susceptible. The ratio of 142 resistant lines to 9 susceptible lines fitted a 15:1 ratio, which indicated that MN841801 had four genes that conditioned seedling resistance to CR250 (² = 0.023, P = 0.98-0.95).
 

All 154 random F_7:9 lines were susceptible to CR251 at the seedling stage. However, when tested with this isolate at the flag-leaf stage (Zadoks growth stages 47-51), 37 lines were resistant (ITs ;1 to ;12), 72 had intermediate level of resistance (typically ITs 21 to 22+), 44 were susceptible (ITs 3 to 34), and one line was segregating. The ratio of 37 resistant lines to 72 intermediate resistant lines to 44 susceptible lines fitted a 1:2:1 ratio for segregation of two genes (² = 1.17, P = 0.70-0.50). The simplest explanation to this segregation data is that the resistance in MN841801 was conditioned by two adult-plant resistance (APR) genes, A and B, with additive effect. The four expected genotypes would be AABB, AAbb, aaBB and aabb, occurring in equal proportion among the 154 random F_7:9 lines. The 72 lines that had an intermediate resistant reaction would account for the lines that were expected to have either gene A or gene B (genotypes AAbb and aaBB). Lacking the additive effect, these two genes individually would confer an intermediate reaction difficult to be distinguished among lines carrying either one of these genes. A quarter of the SSD population (38.5 lines) would be expected to have the genotype AABB; indeed, 37 lines were shown to have a resistance reaction similar to that of the parental line MN841801. A contingency chi-square test of the CR200 and CR251 data (Table 1) showed no linkage between the two APR genes and the seedling resistance gene Pc68 (² = 2.8, P = 0.247), indicating the feasibility of combining these genes with Pc68 in the same background.
 

Results of the present growth chamber study indicated that MN841801 carries four seedling resistance genes and two APR genes. Seedlings of MN841801 were resistant to 30% to 47% of P. coronata f. sp. avenae isolates collected from annual surveys in Manitoba from 1996 to 1999 (J. Chong, unpublished), but were resistant to only 3% of the isolates in the buckthorn nursery at St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1995 (K.J. Leonard, unpublished). The four seedling resistance genes identified in MN841801 thus do not appear to be a contributing factor to its field resistance in the buckthorn nursery. MN841801 typically had a crown rust severity of TrS-5MSS in field plots grown in Manitoba during 1996 to 1999 (J. Chong, unpublished). Work is ongoing to determine the correlation between this field resistance and the adult-plant resistance observed in growth chamber tests. Additionally, a set of F₆-derived F₈ SSD lines from a cross between MN841801 and the susceptible cultivar, Makuru, is being developed and will be used to determine if the two APR genes identified in this study were responsible for providing effective field resistance in MN841801.

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

 

	No. of F7-derived F9 SSD lines and reaction to CR2001
Reaction to CR2512	Resistant	Susceptible	Total
Resistant	22	15	37
Intermediate	34	38	72
Susceptible	18	26	44
Total	74	79

¹Inoculated at one-leaf stage; resistance to CR200 indicated presence of Pc68.

²Inoculated at flag-leaf stage; resistance to CR251 could be explained by the presence of two adult-plant resistance genes having additive effect. Intermediate level of resistance was explained by the presence of either one of the genes.
 
 

MANITOBA AND SASKATCHEWAN
 
Virulence Spectrum of Oat Stem Rust in 2000
 
T. Fetch
 
Cereal Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada,
195 Dafoe Road, Winnipeg, MB, Canada R3T 2M9
tfetch@em.agr.ca

The virulence spectrum of oat stem rust in Manitoba and Saskatchewan in 2000 is presented in Table 1. Surveys of commercial fields and trap plots were made from late July to mid-September. Races NA67 and NA76, which are virulent to all Canadian cultivars, continued to increase slightly in virulence frequency in the oat stem rust population. Races NA27 and NA29, which had been the predominant races in recent years, were still prevalent in the population but are slowly declining in frequency (Figure 1). Host resistance genes that are effective for races NA67 and NA76 include Pg10, Pg16, and Pga. Studies were conducted in 2000 to evaluate the ability of these three genes for the control of races NA67, NA76, and a composite of historical races that have been found in the eastern prairie region of Canada. Resistance gene Pga (5-10 R-MR) was slightly better than Pg16 (10-15 R-MR) for control of races NA67 and NA76, but both were effective. Pg10 (30 MR-MS) was less effective for races NA67 and NA76. Oat lines from the Winnipeg breeding program with Pg10 and Pg16 also were evaluated for reaction to NA67 and NA76, and of 98 lines with Pg10 in the pedigree none were resistant, while 4 of 16 lines with Pg16 displayed good resistance. Evaluation of 800 Avena landraces and 6000 Avena sterilis lines for novel sources of oat stem rust resistance will be performed in 2001.

Table 1. Isolates of Puccinia graminis f. sp. avenae collected in Manitoba and Saskatchewan in 2000

 

Races	Host Pg genes effective/ineffective	Collections from
		Cultivated oat	Percent	Wild oat	Percent	Total	Percent
NA18	2,4,9,13,16,a/1,3,8,15	0	0	2	1.2	2	0.6
NA27	9,13,15,16,a/1,2,3,4,8	6	3.6	25	15.2	31	9.4
NA29	9,13,16,a/1,2,3,4,8,15	46	27.5	99	60.4	145	43.8
NA30	13,16,a/1,2,3,4,8,9,15	4	2.4	10	6.1	14	4.2
NA67	16,a/1,2,3,4,8,9,13,15	100	59.9	26	15.9	126	38.1
NA76	15,16,a/1,2,3,4,8,9,13	11	6.6	2	1.2	13	3.9
		167		164		331

 

SASKATCHEWAN
 

Holdings of Avena Germplasm at Plant Gene Resources of Canada and Status of the Collection

A. Diederichsen, E. Timmermans, D.J. Williams, and K.W. Richards
Plant Gene Resources of Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada,
107 Science Place, Saskatoon, SK, S7N OX2, Canada
DiederichsenA@em.agr.ca

In 2000, Canadian farmers harvested about 1.4 million hectares of oat and the total production was 3.6 million tonnes. Most of Canada's oat production (more than 90%) is located in the Prairie Provinces of Western Canada (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta). Forty percent of the total production is exported (Statistics Canada, 2000). Canada is the leading exporter for oat on the world market and 14% of the world's oat production occurs in Canada (Small, 1999). At present, there are six oat-breeding programmes in Canada which are located at Lacombe, Alberta; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; Winnipeg, Manitoba; Guelph, Ontario; Ottawa, Ontario; and Montreal, Quebec. There are currently 59 hulled and 8 hulless oat cultivars registered in Canada (CFIA, 2000). The importance of acquiring additional genetic resources for oat breeding was recognized early by Canadian plant breeders and scientists. In 1964, the first collection mission by Canadian scientists to collect wild and cultivated oat in the Mediterranean area was conducted. These collecting activities continued through the middle of the 1970's, when more than 7000 accessions of oat germplasm were brought back to Canada which now form part of the PGRC oat collection (Baum et al., 1975). The Mediterranean diploid species Avena barbata and, in particular, the hexaploid A. sterilis have frequently been used as donors for resistance genes to help resolve plant disease issues (Diederichsen, 2001). More than 30 crown rust genes have been identified in A. sterilis and used in oat breeding programmes (Fox et al., 1997).

Plant Gene Resources of Canada (PGRC) continues to regenerate and characterize oat germplasm as part of a project started in autumn 1998. An outline of this project and a progress report were presented in previous editions of the Oat Newsletter (Diederichsen et al., 1999, 2000). The objective of the project is to characterize and evaluate, using morphologic, agronomic, and disease resistance characters, the genetic variability among available oat accessions in the Plant Genetic Resources of Canada (PGRC) collection of cultivated and wild species of Avena. The information will be placed into the Genetic Resources Information Network-Canadian Version (GRIN-CA) thus making it available for others to use. With about 27,000 accessions, PGRC maintains the world's largest collection of oat germplasm. In particular, the collection of wild species of the genus Avena is unique in the world (Maggioni et al., 1998). Characterization data allows plant breeders and other scientists to make efficient use of the germplasm in the PGRC collection and supports world wide efforts for conservation and understanding of cultivated plants' diversity.
 

Composition of the PGRC and USDA Avena collections

The PGRC oat collection is housed at the Saskatoon Research Centre of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, while the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) collection is located at the National Small Grain Centre, Aberdeen, Idaho, United States of America. All passport and characterization data of the PGRC Avena collection has been uploaded into the internet accessible Canadian version (GRIN-CA, see PGRC 2001) of the Genetic Resources Information Network (GRIN, see USDA without year) which was developed by the USDA. These internet databases can be searched using different criteria, e.g., cultivar name, country of origin, accession number. From a botanical viewpoint the most evident criterion for organizing the collection is the botanical species. The GRIN-CA taxonomy for the genus Avena basically follows Baum (1977) for defining the species in the Avena genepool. According to this system there are 31 species in the genus Avena (see Table 1, Rodinova et al., 1994). This number excludes the species A. atherantha Presl, because the status of this species needs more clarification. Therefore, PGRC should strengthen this part of its Avena collection.

The representation of the species in the PGRC and USDA collections is shown in Table 1. This table was produced by accessing GRIN and GRIN-CA. The figures presented in this table have to be seen as a very close approximation to the real numbers of accessions for all species. The on-going project at PGRC will result in further changes of the figures presented in Table 1 because misclassification will be corrected and new germplasm integrated in the collection. In addition to the botanical species two categories for interspecific hybrids without formal names and for species not yet identified are listed in Table 1. With the exception of the tetraploid A. matritensis and the hexaploid A. trichophylla all species within the genus Avena are represented in the PGRC oat collection. Six of the Avena species are represented by less than ten accessions. This might be of less concern from a plant breeding viewpoint, but for researching the diversity of the genus it is important to note these species cannot be found in other germplasm collections in the world.

From Table 1 it is obvious that a large degree of duplication exists between the Avena collections of the USDA and PGRC: more than 17,000 accessions are duplicated. Most duplication occurs in the cultivated hexaploid A. sativa and the wild hexaploid A. sterilis. In the PGRC collection the most represented species are A. sativa and A. sterilis with more than 11,000 accessions each. These species can be crossed with each other and the wild species is an important genetic resource for oat improvement.

The third major group in both collections with a large degree of duplication is the tetraploid wild species A. barbata. This species is a common weed and wild plant in the Mediterranean area but has also established itself as a weed and wild plant in many parts of the USA. In Canada the common wild oat A. fatua is a well-known and troublesome weed. The USDA collection has more accessions of A. fatua and A. ventricosa than the PGRC collection. However, in general, the PGRC collection has a larger number of accessions and maintains several species not represented in the USDA collection. This clearly demonstrates the significance and uniqueness of the PGRC oat collection.
 

Acquisition of New Germplasm

During the past three years PGRC has acquired germplasm from Canadian plant breeding programmes which is in the process of being entered into the GRIN-CA database. In 2000 PGRC participated in collection missions to Greece and Italy and more than 100 accessions of cultivated and wild oat were collected during these trips (Laghetti et al., 2001). The germplasm from Greece is currently being increased, characterized and integrated into the PGRC collection. In spring 2001 PGRC also received 75 additional landraces of A. sativa from the N. I. Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry (VIR) at St. Petersburg (cooperator at the VIR: Dr. I. Loskutov). These samples will be screened for rust resistance, agrobotanically characterized, and integrated into the PGRC collection.
 

Regeneration of the Collection

Regeneration of the collection is essential for ensuring long-term preservation of viable seeds and for having seeds available for on-going disease and quality investigations as well as for distribution. With the exception of the perennial A. macrostachya, all oat species considered here are self-pollinating species. Therefore, no particular means for isolation to avoid cross-pollination are required. Regeneration is completed in the greenhouse if there are very low amounts of seeds. Growing wild Avena species in the field can be problematic due to the short growing season at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The spontaneous seed-shattering which makes bagging the plants necessary. The wild species are planted as early as possible in the year to produce seeds.

The total number of PGRC accessions planted for regeneration during the last three years is 10,251. A summarized overview of the regeneration of Avena accessions since autumn 1998 is given in Table 2. The regeneration of cultivated oat is technically easier since this oat group is well adapted to the Saskatoon growing conditions. In the wild species, the regeneration of a sample is considered to have been successful if it was possible to harvest more than 1000 seeds. This goal was reached for only 44% of the planted accessions in 1999 as a result of the cool and wet growing season. In 2000, the accessions for field regeneration were selected according to our experiences from 1999 and the performance of the samples was much better. Analysis for seed yield and characterization of the 2000 regeneration is nearly completed. The planting of about 3600 accessions of Avena sativa and about 1000 accessions of other Avena species has just been completed.
 

Characterization

A detailed descriptor list for the germplasm of cultivated and wild oat was developed in consultation with Canadian oat breeders and international genebanks maintaining oat collections (USA, Russia, Germany). The characters on this list are used for describing the diversity of the PGRC collection using morphological and agronomic characters. This information allows breeders to search the collection for certain traits and to identify infraspecific groups within the collection of cultivated oat. For the wild species such characterization is needed for determination of the botanical species.

The activities regarding characterization are all managed by PGRC at Saskatoon. Special emphasis is given to this activity to ensure the taxonomic correctness of the species information in the collection and to have basic information about each accession's performance available to users of the collection.
 

Evaluation for Disease Resistance

For evaluation of disease resistance and quality traits, PGRC is cooperating with pathologists at the Winnipeg Cereal Research Centre (CRC) of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (Dr. J. Chong, Dr. T. Fetch, and Dr. J. Menzies). The major disease concerns for Canadian oat growers are crown rust, stem rust, and smuts. During the last two years, 1286 accessions of the PGRC oat collection were screened for crown rust resistance by Dr. J. Chong (CRC). The screening results were returned to PGRC and are presently being entered into the GRIN-CA database. The goal is to receive crown rust resistance data for all hexaploid accessions of oat which are not represented in other Avena collections. Identification of those accessions that are unique to PGRC or have not already been screened for this trait in the USDA (cooperator Dr. H. Bockelman) is on-going in cooperation with the USDA and pathologists at CRC.  So far, Dr. J. Chong has generated information on crown rust resistance for 5550 accessions of the PGRC collection.

For stem rust, the goal is to generate information on all hexaploid accessions unique to the PGRC collection. Recently, a new virulent strain of stem rust was identified and the screening of oat germplasm by Dr. T. Fetch (CRC) for detection of resistance genes to this strain will be intensified.

Stable resistance genes in cultivated oat effectively control smut. Information on smut resistance performance on 1674 accessions of hexaploid oat has been received from the CRC and will be entered in the GRIN-CA database. There is presently little need to screen for additional resistance genes to smuts.

The CRC Avena pathologists expressed the urgent need for continued screening of the PGRC Avena collection and for including genetic resources not previously investigated. Material collected during summer 2000 in Italy and Greece will have priority for investigation. The order of priority for screenings for disease resistance will be: (1) land races of cultivated oat, Avena sativa; (2) Avena sterilis; and, (3) Avena barbata. In close cooperation with the plant pathologists, PGRC will select accessions which need additional screening. Duplication with screening already conducted on the USDA collection will be avoided to make efficient use of the available resources.
 

Contacts and Cooperation

Cooperation with the University of Saskatchewan (Dr. B. Rossnagel) regarding oat germplasm regeneration and characterization started in 1999. The University planted 500 accessions of oat at its research farm in each year (1999 and 2000).

Recently PGRC responded to a large seed request from the United Kingdom (Dr. M. Legget) for 1200 accessions of wild oat (A. sterilis) germplasm. In 1999, 500 accessions of the same species were sent to Australia. This demonstrates the international recognition of the Avena collection at PGRC.

Dr. Chr. Germeier from Braunschweig/Germany, the database manager of the European Oat Database, which contains passport and characterization data for the relevant European oat collections, visited Saskatoon from July 20 to August 3, 2000. Thus, the activities conducted by PGRC at Saskatoon are linked to this European network.
 

Funding

In 2001 this project was funded in part by:

Agricultural Development Fund, Saskatchewa

Quaker Oats Company of Canada, Ltd.

Can-Oat Milling Products

Matching Investment Initiative Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Additional funds to ensure the projects are being sought.

Viable germplasm and sufficient seed amounts for distribution are basic to all future work with the collection. Thus, meeting this objective and having relevant characterization data available are the goals of this project. For the species A. sativa this will be reached for most accessions by the end of the 2001 growing season. For the wild oat species less than 10% of the entire collection have so far been planted. PGRC will have to acquire additional funding to ensure the proper maintenance of this unique world collection.

The characterization data will be summarized and an overview generated of the performance of the accessions in the Avena world collection under the growing conditions of Saskatchewan. This information will contribute to a better understanding of the diversity and taxonomy of the genus Avena. Coordination of activities between PGRC and other relevant world oat collections and research institutes will be increased to enhance the efficiency in preservation of Avena genetic resources.
 

References

Baum, B.R. 1977. Oats: wild and cultivated. A monograph on the genus Avena L. (Poaceae). - Biosystematics Research Institute, Department of Agriculture, Research Branch, Monograph No. 14, Ottawa, ON.

Baum, B.R., Rajhaty, T., Martensm J.W., and Thomas, H. 1975. Wild oat genepool, a collection maintained by the Canada Department of Agriculture. Canada Department of Agriculture, Ottawa, ON.

CFIA. 2000. List of varieties which are registered in Canada, October 1, 2000. Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Nepean, ON.

Diederichsen, A. 2001. The use of Italian Avena species for plant breeding from a Canadian perspective. In: CNR (ed.). Institute for Germplasm 1970-2000, thirty years of conservation of plant genetic resources: perspectives and future developments. Proceedings of a conference at Bari, Italy, 11^th of September 2000. (In press).

Diederichsen, A., Kessler, D., and Williams, D. 1999. Germplasm of the genus Avena at Plant Gene Resources of Canada (PGRC). Oat Newsletter 45: 22-26. (http://wheat.pw.usda.gov/ggpages/oatnewsletter/v45/#PGR).

Diederichsen, A. and Williams, D. 2000. Germplasm of wild and cultivated oat species at Plant Gene Resources of Canada. Oat Newsletter 46: 28-31. (http://wheat.pw.usda.gov/ggpages/oatnewsletter/v46/#PGRC).

Fox, S.L., Brown, P.D., and Chong, J. 1997. Inheritance of crown rust resistance in four accessions of Avena sterilis L. Crop Science 37: 342-345.

Laghetti, G., Hammer, K., Cifarelli, S., Branca, F., Diederichsen, A., and Perrino, P. 2001. Collection of crop genetic resources in Egadi archipelago and southern Sicily. Plant Genetic Resources Newsletter (in press).

Maggioni, L., Legget, M., Bcken, S., and Lipman, E. (eds.). 1998. Report of a working group on Avena. Fifth meeting, Vilnius, Lithuania, 7-9 May 1988. IPGRI, Rome.

PGRC. 2001. GRIN-CA on the Internet: PGRC-Website: http://www.agr.gc.ca/pgrc-rpc.

Rodinova, N.A., Soldatov, V.N., Mereshko, V.E., Jarosh, N.P., and Kobyljanskij, V.D. 1994. Flora of Cultivated Plants (Russ.), Oat. Vol. 2, Part 3. Kolos, Moscow.

Small, E. 1999. New crops for Canadian agriculture. In: J. Janick (ed.). Perspectives on new crops and new uses. Pp. 15-52. ASH Press, Alexandria, VA, USA.

Statistics Canada. 2000. Cereal and Oilseeds Review August 2000, Vol. 23, no.8. Statistics Canada, Ottawa, ON.

USDA. no year. World Economic Plants in GRIN. Internet: http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/tax/taxecon.html.

 
Table 1. Composition of the Avena L. collections at PGRC (Canada) and USDA (USA). (Sources: GRIN and GRIN-CA; state at May 2001)
 

Species (*=cultivated species)	Genom	PGRC total	USDA total	PGRC only	USDA only	Dupl.
Diploid species (2n=2x=14)
A. atlantica Baum et Fedak	?	15	-	15	-	-
* A. brevis Roth	A	41	25	26	5	15
A. canariensis Baum, Rajhathy et Sampson	A	45	-	45	-	-
A. clauda Durieu	C	91	-	91	-	-
A. damascena Rajhathy et Baum	A	3	-	3	-	-
A. eriantha Durieu - incl. A. pilosa M. B.	C	132	7	128	3	4
A. hirtula Lag. - incl. A. prostrata Ladiz.	A	123	-	122	-	-
* A. hispanica Ard. ex Saggi	A	16	-	16	-	-
A. longiglumis Durieu in Duchartre	A	45	13	38	6	7
A. lusitanica (Tab. Mor.) Baum	A	30	-	30	-	-
* A. nuda L.	A	19	13	15	9	4
* A. strigosa Schreb.	A	134	114	37	14	97
A. ventricosa Bal. ex Coss.	C	5	-	5	-	0
A. wiestii Steudel	A	46	6	45	5	1
Tetraploid specis (2n=4x=28)
* A. abyssinica Hochst.	AB	250	243	189	178	61
A. agadiriana Baum et Fedak	?	14	-	14	-	-
A. barbata Pott ex Link - incl. A. hirsuta Moench.	AB	2,025	957	1,471	406	549
A. insularis Ladiz.	AC	1	-	1	-	-
A. macrostachya Bal. ex Coss. et Durieu	?	1	-	1	-	-
A. maroccana Gandog.	AC	34	2	33	1	1
A. matritensis Baum	?	-	-	-	-	-
A. murphyi Ladiz.	AC	2	1	2	1	-
A. vaviloviana (Malz.) Mordv.	AB	135	44	126	35	9
Hexaploid species (2n=6x=42)
A. fatua L.	ACD	579	1,795	443	1,663	136
A. hybrida Peterm.	ACD	23	1	23	1	-
A. occidentalis Durieu	ACD	62	-	62	-	-
* A. sativa L.	ACD	11,622	11,141	2,093	2,035	9,479
A. sterilis L.	ACD	11,461	9,479	4,383	2,526	6,949
A. trichophylla C. Koch	ACD	-	-	-	-	-
Interspecific hybrids (2n=6x=42)
A. sativa L. x A. sterilis L. (= A. haussknechtii Nevski)	ACD	1	-	1	-	-
A. sativa L. x A. fatua L. (= A. glabrata Hussm.)	ACD	1	-	1	-	-
Other interspecific hybrids		254	269	14	29	240
Species not identified (Avena spec.)	-	20	337	11	329	9
Total		27,230	24,447	9,484	7,246	17,561

Table 2. Number of oat accessions planted for regeneration and characterization by Plant Gene Resources of Canada
 

Year	Cultivated, hexaploid oat			Other oat species		Total
	Greenhouse	Field		Greenhouse	Field
1998	6	-		69	-	75
1999	311	4,478		77	552	5,418
2000	70	3,670		458	560	4,758
Total	387	8,148		604	1112	10,251
Total	8,535			1,716		10,251

 

LITHUANIA
 

Oat Breeding in the Lithuanian Institute of Agriculture

Alfredas Kulikauskas and Jurate Sprainaitiene
Lithuanian Institute of Agriculture, Akademija,
5051 Kedainiai distr., Lithuania
romas@lzi.lt

Oats in Lithuania is one of most important forage crops. Not only oat grains are used for forage, but also oats is grown for green forage and silage in different mixtures. Oats is grown in mixtures with legumes. They belong to the best fallow occupying plants. Oats are used for human consumption too. They are produced as rolled oats, oatmeal, and biscuits. There is at present a considerable interest in the protein content and quality of different crops. Oat protein has a favourable composition with regard to the proportions of the different amino acids. At present considerable efforts are made to increase the protein content. In this connection, attention must be paid to seed size and oil content as well as other characters influencing quality. The aim of oat breeding is not only to breed new productive varieties resistant to lodging and diseases, but also to improve grain quality.

In Lithuania oats have been cultivated since the first year A.D. In XIII century they became widespread. In 1913 oats in Lithuania made up 20.2% of the total area under crops and in 1939 - 15.6%. After World War II the area under oats decreased in Lithuania (4). Over 1975-1980 the area under oats was from 90 to 100 thousand ha (8-9% of the total area under crops). In 1996, area under oats made up only 51.6 thousand ha (2.1% from all area under crops) (1), and in 2000 it was 45.5 thousand ha (1.9% from all area under crops) (3).

Oat breeding in Lithuania was started by Prof. D. Rudzinskas in 1922. The first oat varieties spread in Lithuania were "Stipruoles" and "Dotnuvos Baltosios" (2). In 1942 multiplication of the "Gyrunes" variety was started in Lithuania. In 1949 the varieties "Gyrunes" and "Stipruoles" were registered in Lithuania. In 1958, the new oat variety "Skaistunes" was given to official trials and it was registered in 1963 (4). The variety "Sidabres" was registered in the Pskov region in 1974. In 1989, the variety "Jaugila" was given to official trials and it was registered in 1995. Now it is widely spread in Lithuania. In 2001 the new variety "Migla" was registered in Lithuania.
 

Materials and Methods

Oat breeding was carried out on sandy loam with neutral reaction. The soil was fertilized with 60 kg/ha K and P in autumn and 60 kg/ha N in spring. It soil was dry, it was rolled after sowing. Cross-breeding is the main method for variety development. The varieties used for crossing were brought from St. Petersburg from the Vavilov Institute. In the meantime, we have 970 varieties in our collection. Now our collection is supplemented with the varieties received from Svalof-Weibull (Sweden), BOREAL (Finland), IHAR (Poland), and Lochov- Petkus (Germany). Very productive disease and lodging resistant varieties are selected for crosses. We make about 50 crossings every year. Competitive variety testing plot is 20 m² in 4 replications. Competitive variety testing means the final cultivars estimate stage, so better cultivars are tested there for 3 and more years.

Germination, heading and maturation are dated in the field. According this data duration of growth period is established. In summer appearance of crops is estimated after germination, after panicle emergence and in harvest ripening. Evaluation is carried out in a 9-point system. Resistance to lodging is estimated after panicle emergence and in harvest ripeness. Plant height is measured in the stage before ripening. Occurrence of fungi diseases is evaluated too. After thrashing the seeds are dried, cleaned, and weighed as well as moisture content is established. According to the data of seed bulk weight and moisture content indices of productivity and data reliability are calculated. Later grain quality analyses, such as determination of volume weight, 1000 grain weight, and husk content are conducted. Percentages of crude protein, crude fat, and starch are determined in the laboratory.
 

Results and Discussion

From 1998 to 2000 54 lines were tested in the competitive variety testing. The main quality indicator for the variety or line was grain yield (Table 1). In competitive variety testing 28 hybrid lines of oat were tested in 1998. The yield data differences among lines were not big. Fifteen lines in competition nursery provided the best results compared with standard variety "Jaugila".

 

Table 1. Grain yield of the promising lines in the competitive variety testing over 1998-2000
 

Variety, lines	Productivity			Average	±
	1998	1999	2000
"Jaugila"	3.20	2.33	4.75	3.43	±0.0
"Migla"	2.91	2.44	4.96	3.44	+0.01
LIA 1313-100	3.14	2.71	4.36	3.40	-0.03
LIA 1152-192	3.21	2.64	4.84	3.56	+0.13
LIA 1401-22	3.70	2.34	5.22	3.75	+0.32
LIA 1396-52	3.67	2.44	4.82	3.64	+0.21

According to the data of grain quality (Table 2) the best line is LIA 1401-22. The line LIA 1313-100 is second according to quality indices. It distinguishes itself in 1000 grain weight and crude fat percentage. Line LIA 1152-192 hangs back best lines a little according to grain quality.

 

Table 2. Promising numbers grain quality
 

Variety, lines	1000 grain weight (g)	Volume weight (g)	Husk content (%)	Starch (%)	Crude protein (%)	Crude fat (%)
"Jaugila"	34.0	507	26.5	38.1	16.5	4.84
"Migla"	35.0	531	22.8	39.2	16.7	5.11
LIA 1313-100	35.5	508	24.2	39.9	15.6	5.09
LIA 1152-192	35.0	506	21.7	38.2	15.2	4.94
LIA 1401-22	35.5	503	23.1	36.8	16.0	4.64
LIA 1396-52	35.0	507	22.8	43.8	14.4	4.29

In 2001 LIA 1401-22 and LIA 1152-192 were sown for multiplication. When the final decision concerning the best number of two, is made, it will be transmitted to official trials.
 

Reference

• Lietuvos statistikos metrastis. Vilnius, 1999.
 
• Mackevicius Z. Dotnuvos selekcijos darbai ir ju nauda musu krastui. Kaunas, 1939.
 
• Paseliai 2000 m. derliui. Vilnius, 2000.
 
• Sakys M. Avizu selekcija Lietuvoje. LZMTI darbai. XII tomas. Vilnius, 1968.
 

 
RUSSIA
 
ST. PETERSBURG
 
Features of Aluminum Resistance in Oat Wild Species
 
I.G. Loskutov, I.A. Kosareva and E.V. Semenova
 
N.I. Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry, 44, Bolshaya Morskaya St.,
St. Petersburg, 190000, Russia
i.loskutov@vir.nw.ru

The Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry (VIR) harbors the worldwide collection of cultivated and wild oat species representing the whole global diversity of genus Avena L. The accessions of wild oat species has been studied in order to cast light on a series of commercially valuable traits. Of special interest are the data on the resistance to unfavourable soil factors. Cultivated oat, on the whole, is traditionally recognized as relatively resistant to edaphic stresses; according to the existing classification systems, its level of acid resistance occupies intermediate position between rye and wheat. At the same time, the degree of negative reaction of cultivars to alum-induced toxicity of soil has demonstrated wide variance depending on their eco-geographic origin (Kossareva et al., 1998).

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the collection of wild oat species for their alum tolerance in order to identify the degree of intra- and interspecific variation of this character and search for plant forms with resistance to the effect thus induced. The studied materials included approximately 180 accessions of diploid (A. clauda Dur., A. pilosa M.B., A. ventricosa Bal., A. longiglumis Dur., A. canariensis Baum, A. wiestii Steud., A. hirtula Lagas., A. atlantica Baum), tetraploid (A. barbata Pott., A. vaviloviana Mordv., A. agadiriana Baum et Fed., A. magna Mur. et Terr., A. murphyi Ladiz.), and hexaploid (A. ludoviciana Dur., A. sterilis L., A. fatua L., A. occidentalis Dur.) oat species.

Screening was made by using the method of water culture (Aniol, 1991). The accessions were classified into different groups of alum tolerance depending on the extent of root growth increment after a 24-hour alum stress.

The results of our research have shown considerable interspecific variation of the character of alum tolerance: the average value of root increment (RI) varied from 0.07 to 2.39 cm.

Examination of alum resistance variability between the species and within them helped to conclude that the diploid wild species (Table 1) are characterized by a resistance (scales 1-2) to the effect of this factor. Considering individual species, it should be mentioned that the majority of accessions belonging to species A. longiglumis, A. wiestii, and A. hirtula had the same level of resistance. Among this group of species, A. longiglumis manifested the highest degree of alum resistance: its RI was 2.39 cm. The other studied species occupied intermediate positions on the resistance scale. Completely non-resistant appeared the most primitive species with the Cv (A. ventricosa) and Cp (A. clauda and A. pilosa) genomes. A. canariensis showed wide variation of this character, but the most part of the accessions were either weakly resistant or susceptible. In A. atlantica, on the contrary, one half of the accessions were resistant, while the other half had intermediate resistance to the effect of aluminum. Worth mentioning are highly resistant accessions of diploid species: A. longiglumis from Morocco (k-1810 (RI=4.78)), k-1811 (3.58), A. wiestii from Egypt (k-94 (2.16)). Resistance to this effect was found in the forms of A. longiglumis from Morocco and Israel, A. wiestii from Azerbaijan, A. hirtula from Spain, Italy, and Tunisia, A. canariensis from the Canaries (Spain) and A. atlantica from Morocco.

Tetraploid wild species, on the whole, were characterized by good resistance (scales 1-2). Avena barbata may be regarded as the most resistant, while A. vaviloviana has medium level of resistance. Susceptibility or weak resistance (scales 4-5) was typical for the species bearing AC genomes, i.e., A. magna, A. murphyi, and A. agadiriana. High resistance was identified in the accessions of tetraploid sp. A. vaviloviana from Ethiopia (k-755) (2.22). Resistant forms belonged to spp. A. barbata from Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, Syria, Israel, and Ethiopia, and A. vaviloviana from Ethiopia.

Hexaploid species were not distinguished for high variance of the studied character, and generally had medium resistance (scale 3) to the effect of aluminum. Clearly resistant species were not traced among them. Medium level (scale 3) of resistance was detected in A. fatua and A. ludoviciana. The forms of A. occidentalis had parity between good resistance and medium resistance. Low resistance (scales 4-5) was characteristic of A. sterilis. Within this group of species, only one highly resistant form was identified in sp. A. ludoviciana from Afghanistan (k-90) (RI=2.18). Resistance accessions were found in species A. fatua from Georgia, Bulgaria, Poland, and Mongolia, A. ludoviciana from Iraq, Algeria, and Lebanon, A. occidentalis from the Canaries (Spain), and A. sterilis from Turkey, Iran, and Algeria.

Preliminary results have shown that the species (diploid and tetraploid ones) carrying a C genome had low level of resistance to the excessive content of aluminum and hydrogen ions in the nutrient media, while the carriers of A and B genomes were more frequently characterized as having high alum resistance. The analysis has made it clear that some accessions that we have identified as resistant originated in the environments with excessive moisture or in mountainous areas. It seems very likely that the long-term life of plant forms under soil and climate environmental stress has led to the development of efficient protective mechanisms against unfavourable edaphic factors in these genotypes. All the forms of cultivated oats identified in the process of this study may be recommended for utilization in breeding practice.

 
Table 1. Characteristics of wild oat species to alum resistance.
 

Species	Genome	Number of evaluated accessions	Percent of evaluated accessions for scales resistance
			1-2	3	36985
A. ventricosa Bal.	Cv	1	-	-	100
A. clauda Dur.	Cp	5	-	-	100
A. pilosa M.B.	Cp	4	-	-	100
A. longiglumis Dur.	Al	7	71	-	29
A. canariensis Baum	Ac	5	20	20	60
A. wiestii Steud.	As	11	54	46	-
A. hirtula Lag.	As	7	57	43	-
A. atlantica Baum	As	2	50	50	-
Total		42	40	23	37
A. barbata Pott.	AB	25	56	32	12
A. vaviloviana Mord.	AB	24	42	54	4
A. agadiriana Baum et Fed.	AB?	1	-	-	100
A. magna Mur. et Terr.	AC	6	-	-	100
A. murphyi Ladiz.	AC	1	-	-	100
Total		57	43	37	20
A. fatua L.	ACD	10	40	50	10
A. occidentalis Dur.	ACD	4	50	50	-
A. ludoviciana Dur.	ACD	9	44	56	-
A. sterilis L.	ACD	57	7	44	49
Total		80	16	45	39

 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
 
IDAHO
 
Evaluation of National Small Grains Collection Germplasm Progress Report - Oats
 
H.E. Bockelman and D.M. Wesenberg*
 
USDA-ARS National Small Grains Germplasm Research Facility
P.O. Box 307, Aberdeen, ID 83210
hbockelman@ars-grin.gov

Crown rust and smut evaluations are conducted at St. Paul, Minnesota under the direction of Dr. Howard W. Rines and colleagues at the University of Minnesota. Evaluations of oat accessions for beta-glucan, protein, and oil are conducted by Dr. David M. Peterson and staff at the USDA-ARS Cereal Crops Research Unit, Madison, Wisconsin. These important quality evaluations focus on a diversity of NSGC and other oat germplasm. Beta-glucan and protein data have been obtained for over 5000 NSGC oat accessions to date. In addition, oat entries grown in the Uniform Midseason Oat Nursery, the Uniform Early Oat Nursery, the Uniform Northwestern States Oat Nursery, and other cultivars or advanced lines grown in various trials at Aberdeen and Tetonia, Idaho since 1988 have been submitted for beta-glucan and protein evaluations. Evaluations of oil content have also been conducted in recent years.

Oat descriptors with data entered in the GRIN system are summarized below. No evaluations have been conducted to date for descriptors such as awn type, panicles per row, groat percent, winterhardiness, Helminthosporium avenae, leaf Septoria, stem Septoria, powdery mildew, and stem rust.

In related efforts, cooperative funding for the project entitled "Comprehensive Oat Improvement Through National Germplasm Enhancement" is established annually through Specific Cooperative Agreements or direct fund transfers in cooperation with the Oat Crop Germplasm Committee. Annual progress reports for this project are available in the CRIS system.

*The authors wish to acknowledge the important contributions of the NSGGRF staff in this effort, with special thanks to Glenda B. Rutger, Dave E. Burrup, Kay B. Calzada, Karla Reynolds, Charles A. Erickson, Santos Nieto, Kathy E. Burrup, Judy Bradley, and Carol S. Truman.

 
Table 1. National small grains collection evaluation data on grain - oats
 

Descriptor	Location	No. Accessions
Awn Frequency	Aberdeen, ID; Mesa & Maricopa, AZ	8377
Beta-Glucan	Madison, WI & Aberdeen, ID	5382
Bundle Weight	Aberdeen, ID	4064
BYDV	Davis, CA	108
BYDV	Urbana, IL	8551
Cereal Leaf Beetle	Michigan, IN	7.68
Chromosome Number	Columbia, MO	4410
Crown Rust (264A)	Ames, IA	10391
Crown Rust (264B)	Ames, IA	10397
Crown Rust (202)	Ames, IA	1650
Crown Rust (Pc59)	Ames, IA	1859
Crown Rust (Mult. A)	Ames, IA	2082
Crown Rust (Mult. B)	Ames, IA	2122
Crown Rust (Mult. C)	Ames, IA	4237
Crown Rust (Mult. D)	Ames, IA	1975
Crown Rust (Mult. E)	St. Paul, MN	2590
Greenbug	Stillwater, OK	4889
Growth Habit	Aberdeen, ID	10856
Heading Date	Aberdeen, ID	8380
Hull Cover	Aberdeen, ID	6818
Kernels/Spike	Aberdeen, ID	4510
Kernel Weight	Aberdeen, ID	4811
Lemma Color	Aberdeen, ID	8292
Oil/Lipids	Urbana, IL	4448
Panicle Density	Aberdeen, ID	8396
Panicle Length	Aberdeen, ID	4512
Panicle Type	Aberdeen, ID	8383
Plant Height	Aberdeen, ID; Mesa & Maricopa, AZ	8280
Protein	Madison, WI & Aberdeen, ID	5381
Red Oat Classification	Aberdeen, ID	1115
Shattering	Aberdeen, ID; Mesa & Maricopa, AZ	4194
Spikelets Per Panicle	Aberdeen, ID	6341
Straw Breakage	Aberdeen, ID; Mesa & Maricopa, AZ	6569
Straw Color	Aberdeen, ID; Mesa & Maricopa, AZ	6623
Straw Lodging	Aberdeen, ID; Mesa & Maricopa, AZ	8372
Smut	St. Paul, MN	4233
Test Weight	Aberdeen, ID	6504
Yield	Aberdeen, ID	6527

updated April 2000
 

 

National Small Grains Collection Activities

H.E. Bockelman

USDA-ARS National Small Grains Germplasm Research Facility
P.O. Box 307, Aberdeen, ID 83210
hbockelman@ars-grin.gov

Table 1. PI Assignments in Avena, January 2000 - May 2001
 

612393	sativa	KARMA	Mexico	Federal District
612394	sativa	CEVAMEX	Mexico	Federal District
612421	sativa	IAN979-5-1-22	United States	Iowa
612973	sativa	LA604	United States	Louisiana
613330	sativa	LAO-525-S-01	Canada	Alberta
613331	sativa	LAO-525-T-01	Canada	Alberta
613332	sativa	LAO-525-S-02	Canada	Alberta
613333	sativa	LAO-525-T-02	Canada	Alberta
613334	sativa	LAO-525-S-03	Canada	Alberta
613335	sativa	LAO-525-T-03	Canada	Alberta
613336	sativa	LAO-524-S-02	Canada	Alberta
613337	sativa	LAO-524-T-02	Canada	Alberta
613338	sativa	LAO-521-S-02	Canada	Alberta
613339	sativa	LAO-521-T-02	Canada	Alberta
613340	sativa	LAO-521-S-03	Canada	Alberta
613341	sativa	LAO-521-T-03	Canada	Alberta
613342	sativa	LAO-517-S-01	Canada	Alberta
613343	sativa	LAO-517-T-01	Canada	Alberta
614636	sterilis	UKR-99-004	Ukraine	Krym
614637	sterilis	UKR-99-023	Ukraine	Krym
614638	sterilis	UKR-99-039	Ukraine	Krym
614639	sterilis	UKR-99-072	Ukraine	Krym
614640	sterilis	UKR-99-131	Ukraine	Krym
614641	sterilis	UKR-99-094	Ukraine	Krym
614661	sativa	VISTA	United States	Wisconsin
615162	sativa	SD 92057	United States	South Dakota
615163	sativa	SD 92287	United States	South Dakota
615164	sativa	SD 93311	United States	South Dakota
615165	sativa	SD 93018	United States	South Dakota
615166	sativa	SD 94152	United States	South Dakota
615167	sativa	SD 94155	United States	South Dakota
615168	sativa	SD 91228	United States	South Dakota
615169	sativa	SD 89504	United States	South Dakota
615170	sativa	SD 91008	United States	South Dakota
615691	sativa	RICHARD	United States	Minnesota

Elite Germplasm Requested. Breeders are encouraged to consider submitting their elite lines for inclusion in the National Small Grains Collection (NSGC). Of special interest are lines that have been in uniform nurseries, but are not to be released as cultivars. Historically, uniform nurseries been the testing-grounds for the most advanced, elite germplasm from the various public and private breeding programs. Entries in uniform nurseries and other breeding materials that are never released as cultivars are still of potential value to breeders, pathologists, entomologists, and other researchers. Breeders should submit 200-500 g of untreated seed to the NSGC (address: P.O. Box 307, Aberdeen, ID 83210). Seed from outside of the United States should be sent to the USDA Plant Germplasm Quarantine Center (address: Bldg. 580, BARC-East, Beltsville, MD 20705) with enclosed forwarding directions. Provide a description of the germplasm, including: donor (breeder, institution); botanical and common name; cultivar name and/or other identifiers (breeder line or selection number, etc.); pedigree; descriptive information (of important traits and special characteristics); and growth habit. Assignment of a PI number and inclusion in the NSGC makes the germplasm available for research purposes to bona fide scientists in the US and worldwide. Please note that a different procedure applies if you are obtaining Crop Science registration. Follow directions provided by the crop registration committee.

Guidelines for Exporting Seed. All seed sent to a foreign country should be inspected and receive a phytosanitary certificate. In most cases a fee payable to APHIS (Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service) is required to cover the cost of the pc. You may wish to work with APHIS personnel in your state or your State Department of Agriculture to obtain a phytosanitary certificate. Also, please be aware of any import permits and additional declarations that certain importing countries may require to accompany the shipment.

Guidelines for Importing Seed. Scientists importing seed should be aware of any restrictions that apply. USDA-APHIS personnel can provide current information on applicable restrictions. Oat scientists should be aware that Avena sterilis is classified as a Noxious Weed in the US and, thus, requires a permit from USDA-APHIS for receiving seed and grow-outs.

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MINNESOTA
 
Oat Production and Research

Minnesota Acreage and Production

The oat acreage harvested for grain in Minnesota in 2000 was estimated to be 310,000 acres, up about 3% from 1999. The estimated yield of 72 bushels/acre was up 13 bushels/acre from 1999 and is an all time record for the state. The total production in 2000 is the most since 1994. The growing season was favorable and the impact of diseases was minimal, thus the record yield.

Estimated early intentions for 2001 were 375,000 acres, down 6% from 2000, but actual plantings were only 300,000 because of delayed planting conditions. The early season was wet and cool, but after mid-June the weather turned very hot and became quite dry; perhaps the biggest contrast ever between the first and last halves of the oat growing season. Fortunately, disease development was also reduced by the hot, dry weather.
 

New Varieties

Richard was released in 1999 to seed growers and had an excellent season in 2000. Richard is early midseason in maturity with good yield potential and outstanding lodging resistance. It also has good resistance to smut, crown rust, and barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV). Richard's pedigree is Newdak x MN 86209. Richard was tested in the 1998-2000 USDA Uniform Early Oat Nursery as MN 94112 and is now a check in that nursery.

Wabasha was released to seed growers in 2000. Wabasha is early to midseason maturity with good yield and lodging resistance. Wabasha has good disease resistance and kernel quality with a white hull. The pedigree of Wabasha is a cross between a Purdue and a Michigan breeding line. It was in the 1999-2000 USDA Early Nursery as MN 97166, ranking 7 and 6 overall for yield in those two years.

Sesqui is a sister of Wabasha and late midseason in maturity. It has excellent yield potential and a high level of partial crown rust resistance. It is also resistant to smut and has some tolerance to BYDV. It was in the USDA Midseason Nursery in 1999-2000 as MN 97201, ranking 1 and 7 over all locations for yield in the two years.
 

Personnel

Dr. K.J. Leonard retired on April 30 as research leader of the Cereal Disease Laboratory. Kurt enjoyed a long career focusing mainly on oat rusts.

A month earlier, Dr. Jose A. Martinelli from Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (URGS) in Porto Alegre, Brazil arrived to spend a year-long sabbatical in the Cereal Disease Lab. Jose's main research interest is crown rust of oats.

In February 2001, Dr. Cristine Handel completed her Ph.D. requirements and returned to Brazil to work for McKenzie, an international consulting firm. Details of her research efforts can be found in last year's Oat Newsletter.

Juan Diaz is in Uruguay at La Estanzuela finishing his Ph.D. thesis and intends to finish at the end of this summer. Details of his research can also be found in last year's Oat Newsletter.

Marcelo Pacheco, a Ph.D. student from Porto Alegre continues on his Ph.D. program. His research has two main emphases: 1) comparison of selection for slow rusting in Minnesota and parallel in Brazil, and 2) to identify molecular markers associated with slow rusting loci accumulated with recurrent selection.

Dr. Vladimir Portyanko, postdoctorate from Kiev, Ukraine, came to Minnesota in Sept. 1999 following two years at Iowa State in the lab of Jim Holland and Michael Lee. Vlad's research here includes generation of PCR-based markers for crown rust partial resistance QTLs identified in the cross MN 841801 x Noble and testing them in other populations having MN 841801 as a rust resistance donor parent.

In June, Jennifer Folstad, a General Mills employee, completed her M.S. Her thesis title was "Genetic and Environmental Effects on Physical Properties of Oats."

At the end of August, Don McVey will conclude a long and productive career with the USDA-ARS Cereal Disease Laboratory. Don has been the key player in launching and continuing our recent search for slow rusting which we expect to be more durable than major gene resistance. He developed the protocol for field evaluation of this rate-reducing type of crown rust resistance, and during the last six years since our original selections, we have accumulated a large group of slow rusting genotypes.

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Oat Rusts in the United States in 2000
 
K.J. Leonard, D.L. Long, M.E. Hughes, G.E. Ochocki, and L.A. Wanschura
 
Cereal Disease Laboratory, USDA-ARS, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108
kurtl@cdl.umn.edu, davidl@cdl.umn.edu, markh@cdl.umn.edu, jerryo@cdl.umn.edu, and lucyw@cdl.umn.edu
 

In early April, oat stem rust was severe in southern Texas plots and moderate in central Texas plots.

During the first week in May, oat stem rust overwintering foci were found in plots in southern Georgia and southern Alabama. The rust killed the oats in these plots and moved outward onto oat growing around the infected foci.

Traces of oat stem rust were observed on some cultivars in a south central Kansas plot in late May. Trace to 40% stem rust severities were observed in oat plots at the berry growth stage in northeastern Missouri in mid-June. Oat acreage is limited in the central Plains states, which limits the rust inoculum for the northern plains oat crop.

During late June, 1% oat stem rust severities were found in commercial fields in south central Wisconsin and trace-5% severities were reported in plots in south central Minnesota and east central South Dakota. By late July, trace to 5% severities were observed in oat plots from central Minnesota to central North Dakota. In general, oat stem rust was less widespread than on the same date in 1999, throughout the northern oat-growing area. Losses to oat stem rust were minimal in 2000 in the upper Midwest (Table 1).

During the last week in April, traces of oat stem rust were found on wild oat (Avena fatua) in a plot in Butte, California. On May 22, limited oat stem rust was found on wild oats in Sonoma County, California.

Trace amounts of oat stem rust were found on susceptible trap plots and wild oat in southeastern and south central areas of Manitoba in late July. Many oat fields were sprayed with fungicide, so losses due to rust infection were light in 2000.

Race NA-29 (virulent to Pg-1, -2 , -3, -4, -8, and -15) was the predominant race identified in 2000, comprising 64% of the total isolates (Table 2.) NA-27 (virulent to Pg-1, -2, -3, -4, and -8) comprised 15% of the isolates identified as compared to 96% in 1999. Three isolates from California appear to be new NA races (Table 2). One isolate (virulent to Pg-2, and -3) is from a nursery collection, while the two others (one isolate virulent to Pg-1, and -4; the other virulent to Pg-1, -4, -16, and -a) are from A. fatua collections. These isolates will be retested and new NA designations will be assigned if they are indeed unique.
 

Oat Crown Rust. In early March, in south Texas plots, crown rust infections were severe in susceptible plots and increased at a rapid rate wherever moisture was present.

In early March, traces of oat crown rust were found in southern Louisiana. Crown rust increased in oat plots and some lines had severities as high as 60% by late March, in southern Louisiana. Light amounts of crown rust were found in oat plots along the Gulf Coast and some overwintering sites were observed in locations such as Headland, Alabama.

Oat crown rust increased rapidly during April from south central Texas through southern Louisiana to southern Alabama. During mid-April, crown rust was severe in these areas as in 1999, but there was less crown rust further east. During mid-April, 50-75% crown rust severities were observed on susceptible oat plots in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana nursery. By late April, crown rust was severe in plots of susceptible cultivars and light in commercial fields in the southern US. In much of this area, the drier and cooler than normal weather during April was not conducive to rust development. These southern areas provided some inoculum for areas farther north.

In late May, traces of crown rust were found in oat plots in south central Kansas and a collection of crown rust was made from A. fatua in Sonoma County, California.

In early May, pycnial infection was noted on buckthorn bushes at St. Paul, Minnesota. Most of the pycnia were found along the edge of the nursery rather than where the oat telial straw was located. Therefore, the first pycnia observed may be from f. sp. of Puccinia coronata that infect grasses other than oat. The timing of this pycnial development, in early May, is near normal. By the fourth week in May a few uredinia were found on the oat spreader rows in the buckthorn nursery. The main flush of new pycnia did not appear in the buckthorn nursery at St. Paul until early May. Cool weather delayed development of aecia. By mid-June, oat in the buckthorn nursery in St. Paul, Minnesota, had high levels (80% severities) of crown rust infection on lower leaves and 5% severities on the upper leaves in the spreader row. Traces of crown rust were found on oat in the other St. Paul nurseries.

During late May, crown rust aecial infections were found on buckthorn bushes in east central North Dakota. In mid-June, trace levels of oat crown rust were detected in south central Wisconsin fields. In early July, 40% crown rust severities were observed on flag leaves of oat in south central Minnesota plots, while in fields 1-5% severities were found on the lower leaves. Crown rust developed very slowly in east central South Dakota and west central Minnesota nurseries with trace to 20% severities on lower leaves of cultivars at the milk growth stage. By late July, trace to 50% crown rust severities were observed in varietal plots in eastern and central North Dakota. In western North Dakota plots rust was not found. Crown rust was lighter than in previous years except on a few highly susceptible cultivars in nurseries. On wild oat (A. fatua) plants in west central Minnesota, 80% severities were common while in northwestern North Dakota only traces of crown rust were present. Crown rust losses in the northern oat-growing area were similar to those of 1999 and 1998, but less than the average for 1995-1999 (Table 1).

During the third week in May, aecia were observed on buckthorn on the Cornell University campus in New York. In mid-July, severe rust was reported in field of a susceptible cultivar, but in general losses to crown rust were light in the eastern US.

In late June, crown rust severities were more severe and infections earlier than normal on susceptible oat yield plots at Guelph, Canada. By late July, trace to 5% levels of crown rust were found on wild oat (A. fatua) and susceptible trap plots in the southeastern and south central areas of Manitoba. Aecial infections on buckthorn were heavier in July than has been found in recent years. Crown rust was severe with up to 70% severities on wild oat in experimental plots at the University of Manitoba, which is adjacent to the Boyne River where buckthorn is found. The cultivar Triple Crown with Pc48 had trace to 10% crown rust severities in plots adjacent to the wild oat plots.

In general, the frequencies of virulence of P. coronata isolates to the oat crown rust standard and supplemental differentials were quite similar from Texas to the Midwest and from the Southeast to the Northeast in 2000 (Table 3). Differences that were found include: 1) frequencies of virulence to Pc35, Pc53, Pc59, and Pc60 were greater in Texas than in the other regions; 2) frequencies of virulence to Pc38, Pc39, Pc63, and Pc71 were greater in the Midwest; 3) frequency of virulence to Pc54 was greater in the Southeast; and 4) frequency of virulence to 67 was high in both the Southeast and Northeast but intermediate in Texas and the Midwest. Pc38 and Pc39 have been used extensively in midwestern oat cultivars, which accounts for the greater virulence to these resistances in the Midwest. Virulence to Pc63 tends to be associated with virulence to Pc38, so it also was more frequent in the Midwest than in the rest of the United States. Frequencies of virulence to Pc58, Pc59, Pc60, and Pc61 were lower in the Midwest than in other parts of the US. These genes have been used mainly in winter oat cultivars grown in Texas and the Southeast. Why frequencies of virulence to these resistance are also high in the Northeast is not known. Pc68 remains effective against all but a few isolates collected in 2000, but at least one Pc68-virulent isolate was found in 2000 in the Southeast, Texas, and the Midwest. Pc48 and Pc52 also have been highly effective for many years. Fewer than 10 isolates, all from the Midwest, were found with virulence to Pc48 or Pc52. Resistance in the line B604Xsel was still highly effective in the Midwest and Northeast but was less effective in Texas or the Southeast in 2000.

Letter codes for designation of oat crown rust races based on the North American standard set of 16 differential oat lines are shown in Table 4 (Chong et al., 2000). A total of 110 races were identified among the 164 isolates from the US tested in 2000. The most common races were LQLG, LQBG, and LQBB, each of which was found six times; NQBB, which was found five times; and LBLB, which was found four times (Table 5). The LB-- race group (virulent on Pc40; avirulent on Pc45, Pc46, Pc50, Pc38, Pc39, Pc48, and Pc68) was the most common race group in all regions of the United States except the Midwest in 2000. LQ-- races (virulent on Pc40, Pc38, and Pc39; avirulent on Pc45, Pc46, Pc50, Pc48, and Pc68) were most common in the Midwest, where Pc38 and Pc39 have been used extensively, and also were relatively common in the Southeast and Texas in 2000. NQ-- races (virulent on Pc40, Pc46, Pc38, and Pc39; avirulent on Pc45, Pc50, Pc48, and Pc68) were relatively common in the Midwest.

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

 
Table 1. Estimated losses in oat due to rust in 2000
 

State	1000 acres harvested	Yield in bushels per acre	Production in 1000 of bushels	Losses due to
				Stem rust		Crown rust
				Percent	1000 bushels	Percent	1000 bushels
AL	NA1	NA	NA	T2	T	1.0	_
AR	NA	NA	NA	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
CA	25	75.0	1,875	T	T	T	T
CO	35	63.0	2,205	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
GA	35	72.0	2,520	T	T	1.0	25.5
ID	15	70.0	1,050	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
IL	55	73.0	4,015	0.0	0.0	T	T
IN	25	78.0	1,950	T	T	0.0	0.0
IA	180	67.0	12,060	0.0	0.0	T	T
KS	50	44.0	2,200	T	0.0	0.0	0.0
LA	NA	NA	NA	0.0	0.0	0.5	_
MI	75	64.0	4,800	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
MN	310	72.0	22,320	T	T	2.0	455.5
MO	30	53.0	1,590	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
MT	50	52.0	2,600	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
NE	45	42.0	1,890	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
NY	60	65.0	3,900	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
NC	30	70.0	2,100	0.0	0.0	2.0	42.9
ND	325	64.0	20,800	0.0	0.0	5.0	1,094.7
OH	90	76.0	6,840	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
OK	15	44.0	660	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
OR	25	98.0	2,450	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
PA	145	57.0	8,265	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
SC	35	60.0	2,100	0.0	0.0	T	T
SD	220	61.0	13,420	T	T	2.0	273.9
TX	100	43.0	4,300	T	T	0.5	21.6
UT	7	70.0	490	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
WA	15	75.0	1,125	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
WV	NA	NA	NA	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
WI	280	68.0	19,040	T	T	1.0	192.3
WY	27	55.0	1,485	0.0	0.0	0.0	0
Total of
above	2,304	64.3	148,050		T		2,106.4
US % Loss				T		1.4
US total	2,334	64.4	150,300

¹NA = data not available
²T = Trace
 
 

Table 2. Races of Puccinia graminis f. sp. avenae from oat in 2000
 

State	Source	Number of			Percentage of isolates of NA race1
		Coll	Isol		NA-5	NA-10	NA-26	NA-27	NA-29	NA-39	NA-67	Other2
AL	Nursery	1	3						100
CA	Nursery	2	5		60	20						20
	A. fatua		3			33						67
FL	Field	1	3						100
	Nursery	1	3						100
GA	Nursery	1	3					100
KS	Nursery	2	6						100
LA	Field	1	1						100
MN	Field	5	13				15	15	46		15
	Nursery	8	18						94		6
MO	Nursery	1	3						33		67
ND	Nursery	8	15						80		20
SD	Nursery	4	8						63		38
TX	Field	3	9					22	78
	Nursery	15	44					32	52	2	14
WI	Field	2	6						83		17
U.S.	Field	12	32				6	13	72		9
	Nursery	43	108		3	1		16	65	1	14	1
	A. fatua	2	3			33						67
	Total	55	137		2	1	1	15	64	1	12	3

¹SeeMartens et al., Phytopathology 69:293-294.
²Three isolates from California: one from a nursery (virulent to Pg-2, -3); two from A. fatua (one isolate virulent to Pg-1, -4; other isolate virulent to Pg-1, -4, -16, -a). These isolates have not yet been assigned NA designations.
 
 

Table 3. Frequency of virulence in oat crown rust collections in the United States in 2000
 

	% Virulence by region
Differential	Southeast	Texas	Midwest	Northeast
Pc14	92	98	90	82
Pc35	44	90	37	64
Pc36	60	67	55	36
Pc38	60	48	83	36
Pc39	40	50	78	36
Pc40	80	98	78	73
Pc45	16	5	2	9
Pc46	24	24	30	27
Pc48	0	0	8	0
Pc50	4	5	6	0
Pc51	64	79	50	55
Pc52	0	0	10	0
Pc53	4	24	0	0
Pc54	60	21	9	9
Pc56	56	60	47	64
Pc57	30	35	32	40
Pc58	20	17	6	36
Pc59	40	63	27	45
Pc60	52	86	47	55
Pc61	68	62	37	60
Pc62	4	0	8	0
Pc63	44	43	70	36
Pc64	4	26	10	18
Pc67	84	50	33	91
Pc68	8	2	3	0
Pc70	50	60	55	27
Pc71	40	48	74	40
H548	4	5	10	0
B604Xsel	12	24	2	0
No. Isolates	25	42	86	11
Ave.vir/isol.	10.8	12.0	10.6	9.6
Range of vir.	5 to 17	2 to 20	4 to 17	3 to 14

Table 4. Letter codes for designation of North American races of oat crown rust
 

Set 1	Pc40	Pc45	Pc46	Pc50
Set 2	Pc38	Pc39	Pc48	Pc68
Set 3	Pc51	Pc52	Pc58	Pc59
Set 4	Pc54	Pc56	Pc62	Pc64
Letter code	Reaction

B	Res.	Res.	Res.	Res.
C	Res.	Res.	Res.	Susc.
D	Res.	Res.	Susc.	Res.
F	Res.	Res.	Susc.	Susc.
G	Res.	Susc.	Res.	Res.
H	Res.	Susc.	Res.	Susc.
J	Res.	Susc.	Susc.	Res.
K	Res.	Susc.	Susc.	Susc.
L	Susc.	Res.	Res.	Res.
M	Susc.	Res.	Res.	Susc.
N	Susc.	Res.	Susc.	Res.
P	Susc.	Res.	Susc.	Susc.
Q	Susc.	Susc.	Res.	Res.
R	Susc.	Susc.	Res.	Susc.
S	Susc.	Susc.	Susc.	Res.
T	Susc.	Susc.	Susc.	Susc.

Table 5. Major race groups of Puccinia coronata found in the United States in 2000
 

Region	Race group	No. isolates
Texas	LB--	14
	LQ--	11
	other L--- races	6
Southeast	LB--	5
	LQ--	3
	other L--- races	5
Midwest	LQ--	30
	NQ--	10
	BQ--	8
	other L--- races	12
	other N--- races	10
Northeast	L---races	6
	N--- races	2