Word from the Editor-in-Chief.

The range of methods for assessing the quality of grain and its technological properties in cereal crops, of oat in particular, is extremely limited. The available methods are labor-intensive and not always sufficiently informative. The variety of modern processing methods dictates the necessity in searching for more universal and informative assessment methods. Cereal crop breeding also requires high-speed and low-cost methods for assessing grain quality. The present work is a methodological study that uses a limited set oat accessions from the genetic collection of VIR, differing by geographical origin and contrasting technological properties, with an aim of developing a new grain quality assessment method and testing new methods for analyzing technological properties. The resulting criteria are compared with each other and with more traditional indicators. New systems for assessing the technological properties of grain of naked and covered oat have been proposed. A new method of sedimentation analysis for cereal crops is proposed. The diversity of the oat protein complex is exemplified in the results of sedimentation analysis, and of the carbohydrate complex – in the results of its testing by a micro-visco-amylograph. The variety of interactions between oat grain storage substances and wheat material during joint processing is shown by assessing the rheological properties of the dough mixture using a farinograph. The obtained results can be recommended for the assessment for breeding purposes, as well as for obtaining complete information about the quality of oat grain for the purpose of its further processing.

Background. Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) is a thermophilic crop that occupies the third place in the world in terms of cultivation area among leguminous crops. Vegetable cowpea cultivars are successfully cultivated in the open ground in Russia, in its southern regions and the south of the Far East. The creation of new cultivars adapted to cultivation in different regions and suitable for widespread industrial production, is extremely relevant. Materials and methods. The variability of 20 morphological and three phenological traits of six cowpea accessions with different growth habit types and architectonics was assessed in various ecological and geographical conditions at VIR experiment stations (in Astrakhan Province, Primorye Territory and Krasnodar Territory) in 2019-2022. The variability and interrelationships of the traits were estimated using basic and multivariate statistical methods. Results. The analysis revealed a significant influence of the factor complex (genotype/accession, research location) on the variability of traits. Phenological traits, the length of internodes and leaflets depended most strongly on the research location. The range of variation in the number of nodes, branches, peduncles and pods per plant, stem thickness and pod size were determined by the genotype to a larger extent. The range of stem length variability was significantly influenced by the research location and the genotype, though the genotype had a stronger influence. The genotypes responded differently to changes in growing conditions. For most of the studied accessions, an increase in the main stem length was noted in the monsoon climate conditions of the Primorye Territory, for some of them the type of growth habit changed from determinant to indeterminate. In our research, the plant length was positively correlated with the amount of precipitation and with the average relative humidity. Excessive humidity and precipitation had minimal effect only on the cultivar ‘Lyanchihe’, whose plants retained dwarfness and compact architectonics. Factor analysis (principal factors analysis) revealed four factors responsible for the main part of the variance of the analyzed traits. The characteristics of the leaf were combined in the first factor, those of architectonics and time of plant development in the second, traits of the seedling and the juvenile stage in the third, and those of the pod in the fourth factor. These complexes of traits (factors) determined the variability of cowpea in our research. Conclusion. The performed analysis of morphological and phenological traits revealed a significant increase of stem length and changes in plant architectonics under conditions of high relative humidity and a large amount of precipitation. In some cases, even the type of growth habit was changed. The further research on the studied characters variability involving more accessions and the determination of molecular mechanisms that control stability of the growth habit type and length of the stem will allow us to proceed to a more efficient and rapid creation of new cultivars suitable for mechanized cultivation. This is extremely important for the development of new areas by cultivating species, the demand in which as a source of food and feed is increasing in the Russian Federation.

Background. The purpose of this work was to develop calibration models for rapid assessment of the main biochemical parameters of grain quality of naked and covered black oat (Avena strigosa Schreb.) using near-infrared reflectance (NIR) spectroscopy. The use of whole oat grains makes it possible to preserve breeding material of special value, which is very important for breeders. Materials and methods. Black oat grain from 50 accessions from the VIR collection was grown in 2014–2020 in various agro-ecological conditions of the Russian Federation. Chemical parameter values for constructing calibration models were determined in the Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of VIR using traditional methods, such as Kjeldahl for protein/nitrogen, Soxhlet extraction (modified by S.V. Rushkovsky) for oil, polarimetry according to Evers for starch, and gravimetry for beta-glucans. Results. The work resulted in the construction of calibration models for the determination of protein, oil, starch and beta-glucans in whole grains of black oat by a Bruker's MATRIX-I IR analyzer (Germany). A test batch of 20 accessions was used for assessing reliability of the constructed models. The models for determining protein, starch and oil were found to be reliable, while the model for determining beta-glucans needs improvements. It was found that the difference between the values obtained by spectroscopy and by standard chemical methods averaged 0.38 % for protein, 0.57 % for starch and 0.30 % for oil, which does not exceed the maximum permissible error of parallel measurements. The relative difference between the studied indicators does not exceed 3-6 % on an average. Conclusion. The proposed physical method for the analysis of black oat grain allows an express preliminary assessment of breeding material with a high speed of analysis. The main advantages of the method include the possibility of preserving valuable starting material, economizing on reagents, increasing labor efficiency, and obtaining data simultaneously on several parameters of the scanned sample with a specified repeatability.

Winter rye is the second cereal crop after wheat. Rye exceeds other cereals in terms of nutritional value due to the high content of lysine, methionine, valine, as well as the balance of other essential amino acids in its protein. The direct use of baking rye grain as an animal feed is limited by the presence of water-soluble pentosans (arabinoxylans) in it. Therefore, the creation of low-pentosan rye with highly nutritious grain is a very perspective direction in the grain feed cultivar breeding. Under the leadership and with direct participation of Vladimir D. Kobylyansky, a technology for breeding multiple-use low-pentosan rye was worked out at the N.I. Vavilov VIR in 2004-2021. A relationship between the low pentosan content and grain coat thinness has been revealed. For the first time, an effective method of low-pentosan genotypes identification by selecting thin-coat grains has been developed. This method was used to study 562 accessions from the VIR collection represented by cultivar populations, weedy and wild rye. It has been established that the number of thin-coat grains in a sample varies from 12 to 70%, depending on the accession. Varieties with the highest frequencies of low-pentosan genotypes can be used as initial material for breeding. The dependence of low content of water-soluble pentosans in grains on the expression of recessive alleles of the gene/genes responsible for the manifestation of the trait has been revealed. To create grain feed cultivars, it is proposed to use the method of cumulative intrapopulation crosses and the method of pairwise cross-pollinations of the plants with indicator ears. As a result, new cultivar populations of low-pentosan rye for universal use have been created, namely ‘Vavilovskayaʼ, ‘Bereginyaʼ, ‘Podarokʼ, ‘Yantarnayaʼ, ‘Krasnoyarskaya Universalnayaʼ, ‘Novaya Eraʼ, and ‘Argaʼ. These cultivars are characterized by a low, as in wheat, genetically determined content of pentosans. They have been evaluated in the main rye growing regions, tested as raw material for fodder production and bread baking, and found to match the previously released commercial (bread) cultivars in terms of yield. The baking properties of new cultivars do not exceed those of bread rye. The use of low-pentosan cultivars in animal diets eliminates the problem that exists when feeding them with bread rye grain. These cultivars have no analogs in the world; they are listed in the State Register for Selection Achievements Admitted for Usage (2023).

The species Brassica rapa L. includes leafy and root crops grown in many countries of the world. Clarification of genetic relationships and population structure allows for a more accurate parental line selection for further breeding using genetically distinct forms. The B. rapa collection maintained at VIR contains 1750 accessions representing different subspecies and countries of origin, and it is a good tool for studying the diversity of cultivated forms using molecular genetic methods. The aim of the study was to investigate the genetic diversity and clarify the relationships within the B. rapa species using molecular markers. Molecular screening of 80 accessions using 16 microsatellite markers revealed alleles ranging in size from 85 to 460 bp with an average of 7.8 alleles per locus. The average polymorphic index content (PIC) was 0.278, and the expected heterozygosity (H) averaged was 0.35. Rare and unique alleles were identified for Beijing cabbage (k-63 and k-108), Japanese leafy vegetables (k-217 and k-335) and turnip (k-738) samples. Alleles of SSR loci BRMS-007 (123 bp) and BRMS-034 (136 bp) were identified, which are characteristic only of accessions of turnips, rapeseed and sarsons. In silico analysis of primer pairs was performed to clarify the sizes of expected fragments relative to the reference genome CAAS_Brap_v3.01 of Chinese cabbage line Chiifu-401-42. Phylogenetic analysis was performed using the STRUCTURE program and resulted in the distribution of accessions into four clusters according to botanical classification: Chinese cabbage; pakchoi, tatsoi; Japanese leafy vegetables, wutacai, tsoisum, mizuna and mibuna (kyona) and hybrid forms; turnip and rape accessions.

When studying the DNA polymorphism of ancient seeds from archaeological excavations, and comparing them with modern ones, it is possible, depending on the evolutionary significance/neutrality of the identified differences, to either find traces of adaptation of genotypes used in ancient times to unfavorable environmental conditions, or to clarify the origin of the samples, establishing additional evidence of trade and economic ties between different regions in different eras. The purpose of this work was to study the DNA polymorphism by comparing the 12th-century barley seeds from the Usvyaty settlement of the Pskov Region and VIR collection accessions of different geographical origin using the CHI and ELF3 gene fragments sequencing data. Of the 18 polymorphic SNP loci identified in the studied genes during the analysis of the barley samples under study, seven SNPs were from the regions amenable for resequencing in ancient DNA samples. The identified allelic changes in those seven SNP loci were neutral and did not lead to amino acid substitutions, therefore they can be used for a comparative analysis of the sample origin. The haplotype revealed in ancient barley based on the seven studied SNPs did not completely coincide with any of the studied accessions from the VIR collection. At the same time, rare alleles showed similarities with a Belarusian cultivar ‘Krinichny’, and the frequently occurring ones with several accessions of H. vulgare L. of different origin (Sweden, Denmark, Armenia), as well as with H. spontaneum (K. Koch) Thell.

On April 4, 2024, the outstanding geneticist and teacher, Honorary President of the Vavilov Society of Geneticists and Breeders, Honorary Professor of St. Petersburg State University, Member of the Academic Council of VIR, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Sergei Georgievich Inge-Vechtomov turned 85 years old. S.G. Inge-Vechtomov is known as an eminent scientist in the field of Saccharomyces yeast genetics; he has made a significant contribution to the study of the regulation of translation termination in eukaryotes and the phenomenon of protein inheritance. Sergei Georgievich is the author of a number of textbooks on genetics that have received significant recognition. For more than forty years he was the Head of the oldest department of genetics in our country – the Department of Genetics and Biotechnology of St. Petersburg State University, established a leading scientific and pedagogical school, trained a number of disciples who now lead scientific teams not only in Russia, but also abroad. S.G. Inge-Vechtomov does a lot of organizational work, he made a significant contribution to the creation of the Vavilov Society of Geneticists and Breeders, to the organization and holding of a number of Vavilov Society congresses, and is currently its Honorary President. S.G. Inge-Vechtomov is a member of editorial boards of a number of journals, but the most important result of his editorial activities was the creation of the journal “Ecological Genetics”, which is currently actively developing. Colleagues and friends, members of the genetic scientific community, researchers, students and professors wish Sergei Georgievich inexhaustible energy, health, good mood and new achievements in science and educational activities.

The International Congress "VIII Congress of the Vavilov Society of Geneticists and Breeders dedicated to the 300th anniversary of Russian science and higher education" was held in Saratov, June 14-19, 2024. The Congress program comprised 20 symposia, four round tables and the III Forum “Genetic Resources of Russia”. More than 700 researchers from Russia and friendly foreign countries took part in the Congress. As part of the scientific program of the Congress, about 300 oral and 400 poster presentations were made. The Congress events provided a platform for a comprehensive discussion of the results of current research in the fields of genetics, breeding and biotechnology, bioinformatics and systems biology, medical genetics, symbiogenetics, ecological and evolutionary genetics. The issues of bioethics, legal and social aspects of genetic and genomic research, and interaction between science and the business community were raised. Particular attention was given to questions of the history of genetics. The VIII Congress of Vavilov Society of Geneticists and Breeders (VOGIS) was held in a historical place, firmly associated with the name of Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov, who formulated the law of homologous series in variation, described the Centers of Origin of Cultivated Plants and assembled one of the largest biological collections in the world. The Congress welcomed the adoption in the first reading of the law "On bioresource centers and biological (bioresource) collections" by the State Duma of the Russian Federation on 18.06.2024 and emphasized the importance of its final adoption and entry into force, noting that biological collections are the fundamental basis of scientific and technological chains, and their preservation, development, study and use are an important factor in the successful implementation of the Strategy for Scientific and Technological Development of the Russian Federation. The Congress discussed issues of education in the spheres of genetics, biotechnology and breeding in the Russian Federation, and also listened to and approved the Concept for the Development of Biological Education, aimed at implementing the goals of the Russian Federation through 2030 and for the future until 2036.