AVENIN POLYMORPHISM AND ITS APPLICATION T O ANALYSIS OF DIVERGENCE AMONG OAT VARIETIES IN WORLD BREEDING

Avenin polymorphism was studied in samples of oat varieties from Seven countries. Alleles of avenin-coding loci in 110 varieties analyzed ar e listed. In total, seven alleles of the Ave1 (AvnA) locus and ten all eles of both the Ave2 (AvnB) and Ave3 (AvnC) loci were identified. Fif ty-five different combinations of these alleles were observed. Avenin diversity was shown to be higher in varieties from southern regions (U SA and France). A relationship between polymorphism level and mean gen etic distances was revealed for all the samples except the German one. Cluster analysis based on Nei's matrix of genetic distances was used for studying the level of divergence between the samples. One of the c lusters revealed included European varieties (except the German); the other revealed varieties from America and Canada. It was concluded tha t genetic divergence at the avenin-coding loci corresponds approximate ly to geographic distance between the regions of origin of cultivated oat varieties. Regularities in variation at the avenin-coding loci wer e studied by factor analysis. On the basis of factor analysis, it was assumed that the avenin-coding loci are involved in the selection proc ess during the creation of varieties. Sets of varieties from nearby co untries were similar in allele composition and variation at the Ave lo ci, although the breeding process is virtually independent in each cou ntry.