Inna I. Matvienko

Background . Flax Linum usitatissimum L. is an important industrial crop cultivated in a wide range of climate conditions and geographic latitudes, thus inducing the evolution of genotypes with varying earliness, photosensitivity, and other characters. Two flax lines differing in photosensitivity, flowering schedule, and leaf number were selected from VIR’s genetic collection of flax. An early-flowering highly photosensitive line with white flowers, controlled by the wf11 gene, was crossed with a late-flowering line with red-violet petals, controlled by sfc3-2sfc3-2 and sfc6sfc6 . From this hybrid, 203 self-pollinated lines of the 6th generation were selected. They differed in petal color, photosensitivity, and other characters. Materials and methods. Three years of field evaluation under long-day conditions in Leningrad Province (60°N) discovered the association of the wf gene with other characters, and the effect of variable weather conditions on plant growth (flowering time, number of leaves, and plant height). Results. Variance and correlation analyses showed that most lines preserved the association of the wf1 gene with early flowering and bloom on average 4–6 days earlier than lines with colored corollas. However, some early-blooming lines with red-purple flowers, and also white-flowered late-blooming lines were identified, which possibly resulted from a chromosomal crossover. Furthermore, the size of the genotype’s effect on flowering time in the WF1WF1 lines was twice as high as in the wf1wf1 group. On average, white-flowered lines had fewer leaves, but the range of diversity for this character coincided with the variability displayed in lines with colored petals. In addition, their genotypes had a greater effect on leaf formation than those of lines with colored petals, especially under unfavorable conditions. Plants height to the first boll of the wf1wf1 plants depended on the genotype by 80%, and in the WF1WF1 plants by only 40%. It is likely that this gene is linked not only to genes affecting flowering time but also to those for plant height.

Weather has significant impact on plant growth and development. It is important to analyze the influence of changing climate conditions on the expression of plant agronomic characters. Two flax varieties were grown from 1987 to 2018 in the Northwest of Russia. Weather conditions and their influence on flax agronomic characters were analyzed using the variance and correlations analyses. Significant influence of conditions of a particular year on the manifestation of all evaluated characters was revealed. Starting from June, high temperatures accelerate plant development at all stages. Prolongation of the germination-flowering period is most important for improving fiber productivity, while fast ripening in hot weather after flowering is preferable for the formation of high-quality fiber. Such data give a possibility to predict the yield amount and quality. The use of weather conditions data also makes possible a comparison of the results obtained in different years. The suggested method of classifying meteorological conditions of a year can be used in other genebanks for systematizing and analyzing the results of crop evaluation in the field. The correlation analysis revealed 3 correlated pleiades, namely (1) of productivity, (2) of fiber quality and yield, and (3) of the growing season phase durations, the sums of active temperatures and precipitation during each period. The great influence of growing conditions on the economically valuable traits indicates the necessity of searching for genotypes with stable character manifestations for breeding new varieties with stable yields and good fiber quality.

Weather has significant impact on growth and plants development. It is important to analyze the influence of changing climate conditions on expression of plants agronomical characters. Two flax varieties were grown from 1987 to 2018 in the North-West of Russia. Whether conditions and their influence on flax agronomic characters were analyzed using variance and correlations analyses. Significant influence of year conditions on the manifestation of all evaluated characters was revealed. Starting from June high temperatures accelerate the development of plants at all stages. Prolongation of germination - flowering period is the most important for fiber productivity improvement. Oppositely, for formation of high quality fiber fast ripening in hot weather after flowering is preferable. Such data give possibility to predict the amount and quality of yield. Usage of weather conditions data also permits to compare results obtained in different years. Suggested method of year’s meteorological conditions classification can be used in other genebanks for systematization and analyses of crops field evaluation results. Correlation analyses reviled 3 correlated pleiades: (1) pleiade of productivity, (2) pleiade of fiber quality and yield, (3) pleiade of the growing season phases duration, the sums of active temperatures and precipitation during each period. Great influence of growing conditions on economically valuable traits indicates the necessity of searching for genotypes with stable characters manifestation for breeding new varieties, which will give stable yield and fiber of good quality.

The review summarizes diverse knowledge about the problem ofLinum usitatissimumL. response on photoperiod. Within this species, high genetic variability of the photosensitivity degree and influence of photoperiod on different plants characters were discovered. It was shown that in flax, earliness of flowering in long daylight is not strictly related to the low photosensitivity, and late genotypes with low photosensitivity can be found. In short daylight, various plant characters of different genotypes can be stable or display different reactions: increase or decrease their values. Also, the degree of photosensitivity does not have stable correlations with agronomic characters.

Ген WF1 (White flower 1) белоцветковости и сроки цветения линий картирующей популяции льна (Linum usitatissimum L.)

Разнообразие фотопериодической чувствительности у овса