The active collection of oat genetic resources at VIR, and its applications

This article presents information on VIR’s active oat collection that has served as a source of initial material for oat breeding in the Russian Federation for the past decades. The genetic collection is described, including alleles of identified genes for various morphological, biological, and biochemical traits. The results of a field study of the active oat collection conducted by VIR’s experimental network in various ecogeographic zones of the country are highlighted, covering a wide range of valuable agronomic traits. In addition to describing the identified sources of such traits, this article provides an overview of a number of developed donors of semidwarfism and lodging resistance with various alleles of the semidwarfism gene, and donors with a neutral photoperiod. The results of fruitful collaboration with Russian breeding centers are summarized in the context of distributing source material for various trends in oat breeding, based on a comprehensive evaluation of the active oat collection. Thus, the active oat collection at VIR is comprehensively studied, safely preserved, and sustainably used for breeding purposes in the Russian Federation.

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