1. 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

2. Oat harvested in the world since 1945 (Sources: Coffman 1961 and FAO 2008) Diploid Oat (Avena strigosa) is cultivated on 5,000,000 ha nearly exclusively in South America.

3. Cultivated taxa of Avena Taxon2nKaryotypeOrigin A. byzantina42ACDNear East, Mediterranean A. sativa, hulled42ACDNear East, Europe A. sativa, hull-less42ACDChina A. abyssinica28ABEthiopia A. strigosa14AWest Mediterranean A. nuda14AEngland

4. 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

5. Evolutionary relationships among Avena species (Loskutov 2008)

6. Geographical origin of cultivated oat species (Loskutov, 2008)

7. Cultivated diploid Avena taxa in Genebanks -------------------- Avena ----------------- strigosahispanicabrevisnuda PGRC, Canada12413459 NordGen93 VIR, Russia1434912 USDA ARS (GRIN)125 NWRC, Brazil5810 IPK, Germany4574 John Innes Centre, UK469169 SASA, Scottland32 EURISCO488 31209 World697168739

8. 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

9. Specimens of diploid oat in the herbarium of the Vavilov Institute, St. Petersburg A. strigosa, Latvia, 1912 A. brevis, Portugal, rep. 1929

10. Small naked oat: A. nuda L. ”Pilcorn” from England, VIR reproduction 1927

11. 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)

12. 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

13. Field of A. strigosa in northern Germany

14. Characterisation of 191 genebank accessions in Canada (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) and Germany (Lundsgaard, Schleswig-Holstein) Avena strigosa characterisationForage oats: A. sativa (left), A. strigosa (right)

15. Germplasm regeneration and characterization The most critical step in a genebank operation Combined with agro-botanical characterization Goal: Germplasm and information for genebank clients

16. Seeds of A. sativa and A. strigosa

17. Panicle types in diploid oat A. nuda, NLD CN 79351 A. nuda, UK CN 79350 A. brevis, UK CN 55100 A. strigosa, Chile CN 81785 A. strigosa, Canada CN 36505

18. Selected characters and character states in A. strigosa s.l. CharacterStateFrequency Panicle type 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

19. Lodging and straw breakage in A. strigosa

20. Selected quantitative characters (n=191) Min.Max.Average Plant height (cm)99154132 Days to maturity93129107

21. Panicle equilateral 185 accessions Panicle unilateral 7 accessions Hulled 183 accessions Hull-less 9 accessions Character combinations in 192 accessions of cultivated diploid oat (A. strigosa s.l.) 178 accessions 7 accessions 5 accessions 2 accessions

22. Panicle equilateral 8716 accessions Panicle unilateral 221 accessions Hulled 8754 accessions Hull-less 183 accessions 8535 accessions219 accessions 181 accessions2 accessions Character combinations in 8937 accessions of cultivated hexaploid oat (A. sativa s.l.)

23. 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.

24. 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

25. 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

26. 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

27. 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