Updated MORPHological dEscriptors for Avena Species

Activity Coordinator: Andreas Katsiotis

The project "Updated MORPHological dEscriptors for Avena Species (UMORPHEAS)", submitted by the Avena Working Group for funding under the Second Call of the ECPGR Activity Grant Scheme for Phase X, was selected by the Executive Committee and approved in November 2019

Implementation

November 2023
The Umorpheas partners met virtually on 9 November 2023 to coordinate efforts for last year’s activities, in which the test material will be planted. Traits will be scored to test the descriptors for various Avena species.

September 2023
After various delays, the Activity has made progress in 2023 with the evaluation of the most suitable traits for the definition of updated Avena descriptors, based on about 120 test lines grown in Cyprus and Slovakia. The evaluation will be repeated during another growing season. Axel Diederichsen from Plant Gene Resources of Canada and Adriana Alercia from the Treaty Secretariat are also collaborating with the Activity.

March 2022
A kick-off meeting took place online on 11 March 2022. Partners made plans to update the IBPGR Oat descriptors, involving the widest possible global community. A core set of descriptors will be tested in the field, starting from December 2022, with a selected number of diverse accessions. The FAO-ITPGRFA Secretariat also attended the meeting and is offering their expertise for this initiative.   

March 2020
The meeting originally planned 19-20 March 2020 in Birmingham, UK, was cancelled due to the global sanitary situation.
The starting date of the Activity has been postponed to January 2021.

 

ECPGR Avena Working Group