A Comeback for Bristle Oat
(Avena strigosa Schreb. s.l.), a
Crop Nearly Lost in Europe
Axel Diederichsen
Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen)
Alnarp, Sweden
Oat harvested in the world since 1945
(Sources: Coffman 1961 and FAO 2008)
Area harvested (ha)
60,000,000
50,000,000
World
40,000,000
Canada
30,000,000
USA
Europe
20,000,000
USSR
10,000,000
0
1940
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
Year
• Diploid Oat (Avena strigosa) is cultivated on 5,000,000 ha
nearly exclusively in South America.
Cultivated taxa of Avena
Taxon
2n
Karyotype
Origin
A. byzantina
42
ACD
A. sativa, hulled
42
ACD
A. sativa, hull-less
42
ACD
Near East,
Mediterranean
Near East,
Europe
China
A. abyssinica
28
AB
Ethiopia
A. strigosa
14
A
A. nuda
14
A
West
Mediterranean
England
Cultivated oat germplasm
• The world genebanks preserve about 80,000
accessions of cultivated oat species (A. sativa,
A. abyssinica, A. strigosa)
• The diversity of landraces is of great importance
and in situ or on farm conservation are
presently not significant in industrialized
countries
• Genebanks are important sources for such
diversity
• Oat breeding programmes are disappearing
Evolutionary relationships among
Avena species (Loskutov 2008)
Geographical origin of cultivated oat species (Loskutov, 2008)
Cultivated diploid Avena taxa in Genebanks
-------------------- Avena ----------------PGRC, Canada
NordGen
strigosa
hispanica
brevis
nuda
124
13
45
9
9
3
VIR, Russia
143
49
USDA ARS (GRIN)
125
NWRC, Brazil
58
10
IPK, Germany
45
7
4
John Innes Centre, UK
46
9
169
SASA, Scottland
32
EURISCO
488
31
209
World
697
87
39
16
12
Seed storage at Plant Gene Resources of
Canada
Working collection:
+ 4ºC, 10-20%RH of air,
in paper envelopes
Long-term storage:
-18ºC, dry seeds in
sealed envelopes
Specimens of diploid oat in the herbarium
of the Vavilov Institute, St. Petersburg
A. strigosa, Latvia, 1912
A. brevis, Portugal, rep. 1929
Small naked oat: A. nuda L.
”Pilcorn” from England, VIR reproduction 1927
Documentation of A. strigosa in North
Western Europe in VIR Herbarium
Recent findings of A. strigosa in Northern Europe:
- Cultivation on Scottish Islands (Hebrides, Shetland, Orkney), (Scholten et al. 2008)
- Weed in Lithuania, (Weibull et al. 2001)
Recent cultivars and cultivation of diploid
oat
•
•
•
•
UK (Wales), 1930s, two cultivars
’Saia’, Brazil 1940, (aveia preta)
’Soil Saver’, USA 2002, (black oat)
’Luxurial’, France 2005 (?) avoine brésilienne,
avoine rude
• ’Pratex’, Germany 2009, (Sandhafer)
• Some recent cultivation in Australia
• Relictic cultivation on Scottish Islands
Field of A. strigosa in northern Germany
Characterisation of 191 genebank
accessions in Canada (Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan) and Germany (Lundsgaard,
Schleswig-Holstein)
Avena strigosa characterisation
Forage oats: A. sativa (left), A. strigosa (right)
Germplasm regeneration and
characterization
• The most critical step in a genebank operation
• Combined with agro-botanical characterization
• Goal: Germplasm and information for genebank
clients
Seeds of A. sativa and A. strigosa
Panicle types in diploid oat
A. nuda, NLD
CN 79351
A. brevis, UK
CN 55100
A. strigosa, Canada
CN 36505
A. nuda, UK
CN 79350
A. strigosa, Chile
CN 81785
Selected characters and character states
in A. strigosa s.l.
Character
Panicle type
State
Frequency
Equilateral
Unilateral
183
7
Panicle erectness
Drooping
Semi-erect
Erect
43
146
1
Panicle density
Lax
Dense
67
123
Stem breakage
None
Intermediate
All
108
78
5
Lodging
None
Intermediate
All
8
179
3
Lodging and straw breakage in A. strigosa
Selected quantitative characters (n=191)
Min.
Max. Average
Plant height (cm)
99
154
132
Days to maturity
93
129
107
Character combinations in 192 accessions of
cultivated diploid oat (A. strigosa s.l.)
Panicle equilateral
185 accessions
Panicle unilateral
7 accessions
Hulled
183 accessions
178 accessions
5 accessions
7 accessions
2 accessions
Hull-less
9 accessions
Character combinations in 8937 accessions of
cultivated hexaploid oat (A. sativa s.l.)
Panicle equilateral
8716 accessions
Panicle unilateral
221 accessions
Hulled
8754 accessions
8535 accessions
219 accessions
181 accessions
2 accessions
Hull-less
183 accessions
N.I. Vavilov on the botanical species
• The principle of parallels
in variation in botanical
species.
N.I. Vavilov, 1931. [The Linnean species
as a system]. (In Russian). Bull. Appl.
Bot. 26 (3), 109-134.
Challenges for plant breeding in diploid
oat
• Breeding for forage:
– Seed size, lodging, maturity, yield, quality
• Breeding for green manure:
– seed size, nematode reaction, lodging, yield
• Access to diverse germplasm
Which opportunities are there for diploid
oat?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Green manure crop
Nematode reducing effect
Erosion protection and capturing nitrogen
Forage crop (fine leaves)
Diversification of crop rotation
Small naked oat as bird feed
Resource for stem rust resistance breeding
Conclusions
• Diploid oat is an example of a crop that has
disappeared from European agriculture
• The diversity preserved in genebanks is of
relevance
• There may be on-farm diversity of the species
in South America that is not well described and
threatened by extinction
Acknowledgements
• Plant Gene Resources of Canada: Ken Richards, Dallas
Kessler, David Williams, summer students
• University of Saskatchewan: Bruce Coulman
• PHP Saatzucht Lundsgaard, Germany: Michaela
Schlathölter
• NordGen: Morten Rasmussen, Simon Jeppson