The Evaluation of Winter Wheat Adaptation to Climate Change in the Central Non-Black Region of Russia: Study of the Gene Pool Resistance of Wheat from the N.I. Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry (VIR) World Collection to Abiotic Stress Factors

The paper presents the results of a 50-year research of the genepool of the winter wheat from the world’s largest wheat collection of N.I. Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry (VIR) to investigate its resistance to the abiotic stress factors of the Moscow region and see how closely it matches the attributes of a wheat ideotype as postulated by N.I. Vavilov in 1935. The critical years in studying the wheat’s winter resistance were 10 years out of 50: excessive water saturation during the year 2013; soil drought in 1988; and atmospheric drought in 1972 and 2010. During the investigation, the following gene pool features were analyzed: frost characterized by the cultivar Sojuz 50 (Russia), rapid temperature change, thawing, ice, and rotting resistance characterized by the cultivars Zarya 2 (Russia), Sv 75268, (Sweden), Caristerm and Tukan (Germany), PP 114-74 and Liwilla (Poland), Maris Ploughman and Granta (Great Britain), Titan (USA), Zdar (Czech), and Zenta (Switzerland); regeneration capacity in spring after poor wintering expressed by the cultivars Pamyati Fedina (Russia), TAW 3668.71 (Germany) and Rmo (Poland); resistance to excessive soil and air saturation exhibited by the cultivars Moskovskaya 39 (Russia), Tukan, Compal, Obelisk, Orestis, and Bussard (Germany); solid standing culm that is resistant to lodging characterized by the cultivars Tukan, Kronjuwel, Compal (Germany), Zenta (Switzerland), Moskovskaya 56 (Russia), and Hvede Sarah (Denmark); resistance to enzyme-mycotic depletion of seeds characterized by the cultivars Tukan, Compal, Obelisk, Orestis, Bussard (Germany), Sv 75268, Helge, VG 73394, Salut, Sv 75355 (Sweden), Zenta (Switzerland), Moskovskaya 39, and Ferrugineum 737.76 (Russia); and resistance to soil and atmospheric drought demonstrated by the cultivars Liessau, Heine Stamm, Severin, Neuzucht 14/4, Haynes, Rus 991, Halle 1020 (Germany), Gama (Poland), Sv 71536 (Sweden), and Moskovskaya 39 (Russia). Moreover, the cultivar Mironovskaya 808 (Ukraine) showed resistance to almost all abiotic stress factors studied. The performed study contributes towards the provision of potential sources of resistance to abiotic stress factors prevalent in the Moscow region that can be incorporated in advanced breeding programs.

Assortment of black currant cultivars for the Southern Urals

The aim of the study was to assess black currant cultivars for yield, environmental plasticity and stability in Chelyabinsk Province. We identified adaptable black currant cvs. ‘Seyanets Druzhnoy’ (4.43 t/ha; AQ = 1.54), ‘Polar’ (3.59 t/ha; 1.38), ‘Venera’ (4.48 t/ha; 1.35), ‘Zhemchuzhina’ (4.49 t/ha; 1.34), ‘Sudarushka’ (4.43 t/ha; 1.30), ‘Bolero’ (3.42 t/ha; 1.20), ‘Gera’ (3.97 t/ha; 1.16), ‘Mortti’ (3.46 t/ha; 1.06), ‘Podarok Ilyinoy’ (3.89 t/ha; 1.03), ‘Selva’ (3.21 t/ha; 1.02) and ‘Mayak’ (3.54 t/ha; 1.01). The most interesting are intensive-type cultivars, capable of significantly increasing their productivity with the improved growing conditions. Intensive-type cultivars developed in Chelyabinsk are cvs. ‘Podarok Ilyinoy’, ‘Sudarushka’, ‘Zhemchuzhina’, ‘Gera’, ‘Mayak’ and ‘Venera’ (bi = 1.70, 1.68, 1.52, 1.46, 1.40, and 1.28, respectively).The locally developed cv. ‘Seyanets Druzhnoy’, environmentally plastic but insufficiently stable (bi = 1.17; Si2 = 6.1), exceeded in its average yield the environmentally plastic and stable cvs. ‘Selva’ (bi = 0.77; Si2 = 0.7) and ‘Mortti’ (bi = 0.93; Si2 = 1.1). Cv. ‘Bolero’ developed by the Vavilov Institute (VIR) and the Swedish cv. ‘Polar’ are neutral, i.e., they weakly respond to changes in cultivation conditions. High yields were recorded for cvs. ‘Zhemchuzhina, ‘Venera’, ‘Sudarushka’, ‘Seyanets Druzhnoy’, ‘Gera’, ‘Podarok Ilyinoy’, ‘Polar’, ‘Mayak’, ‘Mortti’ and ‘Bolero’.The yield of the following cultivars was at the average level for the experiment: ‘Rusalka’ (bi = 1.50), ‘Orloviya’ (bi = 1.56), ‘Pigmey’ (bi = 1.30), plus the yield (3.36 to 3.25 t/ha) of environmentally stable cvs. ‘Legenda’ (bi = 1.24; Si2 = 0.3), ‘Kama’ (bi = 1.00; Si2 = 0.8), and ‘Dochka’ (bi = 1.15; Si2 = 0.5). Cvs. ‘Zem Zarin’ (1.79 t/ha), ‘Chernecha’ (1.82 t/ha), ‘Zorya Galitskaya’‚ (2.18 t/ha), ‘Sibilla’ (2.37 t/ha), ‘Krasa Lvova’ (2.52 t/ha) and ‘Shakhalevskaya’ (2.84 t/ha) demonstrated yield levels significantly lower than the average.

YIELD, ECONOMICALLY VALUABLE INDICATORS AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF BLUE HONEYSUCKLE UNDER CONDITIONS OF SAKHALIN TRADE-WIND LITTORAL CLIMATE

The blue honeysuckle is the earliest ripening berry, which ripens 7–10 days earlier than the garden strawber-ries under the conditions of Sakhalin's climate. It is resistant to lower fungi and parasites and can be cultivat-ed without pesticides. Currently, many honeysuckle varieties with fruits of different morphologies and chemical composition have been bred. We analyzed values of economically valuable indicators and chemical composition in 14 varieties of honeysuckle, which grow in the monsoon climate of Sakhalin. To assess the most productive variety, the values of each character were presented as percentage of the maximum for each indicator. Knowing the total values of characters under investigation made it possible to choose the best va-rieties, from authors` point of view, to grow in the household gardens in the monsoon climate of Sakhalin: from the Pavlovsk Experimental Station of Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry – Leningradsky giant (506.4%), Berel (432.9%) and Viola (423.4%).

Selection of an optimal method for screening the collection of narrow-leaved lupine held by the Vavilov Institute for the qualitative and quantitative composition of seed alkaloids

Narrow-leaved lupine (Lupinus аngustifolius L.) is a widely cultivated leguminous forage and green manure crop with a potential for human nutrition. However, the presence of secondary metabolites – alkaloids – in lupine seeds considerably affects the quality of raw produce, reducing its nutritive value; in addition, high concentrations of alkaloids are toxic to humans and animals. Therefore, plant breeders working with lupine need to gain knowledge about the variability of alkaloid content in seeds of different genotypes and search for the sources of their low concentrations in the crop’s gene pool. The collection of narrow-leaved lupine genetic resources held by the N.I. Vavilov Institute of Plant Genetic Resources (VIR) offers wide opportunities for such search by means of mass screening. For its part, largescale gene pool screening requires the selection of an optimal technique to measure alkaloid content in seeds, so that it would be easily reproducible and as little labor-, time- and fund-consuming as possible. The results of the search for such method are presented. Qualitative and quantitative indices were compared when target compounds had been extracted with multicomponent mixtures and individual reagents (chloroform, methanol, etc.) and the extracts analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. High-performance liquid chromatography combined with mass spectrometry was also employed. Five major alkaloids were found to be present in all types of extracts: lupanine, 13-hydroxylupanine (dominant ones), angustifoline, sparteine, and isolupanine. The fullest extraction of alkaloids was observed when the extractant with an added alkaline agent was used (425 mg/100 g). The lowest level of extraction was registered with chloroform (216 mg/100 g). The significance of the differences was confirmed statistically.

Agroecological study of garden carrot cultivars from collection of Vavilov institute

Carrots are one of the most important root crops in the world. Due to such qualities as plasticity and relative non-wholesome cultivation, carrots are cultivated in most countries of the world. Carrot roots are a valuable source of vitamins A, B, B2, B6, B12, C, RR, E, R. Agroecological conditions of the region allow to cultivate carrots in the open ground. Astrakhan region is not yet characterized by high production rates, as its cultivation can be done only under irrigation. The article considers the influence of agroecological conditions on crop yield and adaptability of garden carrots cultivars in the arid zone of the Caspian region. Experiments on studying the carrots cultivars was carried out on the fields of Precaspian Agrarian Federal Scientific Center of the RAS in 2017-2019. The purpose of the research was to study garden carrots cultivars from collection of plant genetic resources of Vavilov Institute for the selection of high-productive and more adapted samples. The object of research was 17 types of carrots from the world Vavilov collection. Based on three-year studies on yield, we can distinguish the following cultivars: Berlanda F1 (Netherlands), Nantese (Italy) and Imperator Type 9-11 (USA) with yield of 68.4 to 75.2 t/ha. The coefficient adaptability was higher than 1, in the varieties Berlanda F1 (Netherlands), Nantese (Italy), F1 Eagle (Canada), Imperator Type 9-11 (USA), Wav-88 (Germany), Surazhevskaya-1 (Russia). They have ability to adapt to difficult growing conditions and produce consistently high yields. The samples selected can be used in the future to create new cultivars and hybrids for conditions of the Caspian region.