AAC Zip

Oat

Variety Description

Varieties used for comparison: 'AAC Bullet' and 'AAC Nicolas'

Summary: At the 5 to 9 tiller stage, the pubescence on the lower leaf sheath of 'AAC Zip' is absent or very sparse while it is sparse for 'AAC Nicolas'. The pubescence on the lower leaf blade of 'AAC Zip' is absent or very sparse while it is sparse for 'AAC Nicolas'. At booting, the leaves of 'AAC Zip' are medium green while those of 'AAC Bullet' are dark green. At the green stage, the leaves of 'AAC Zip' have a medium glaucosity while those of 'AAC Nicolas' have a weak glaucosity. 'AAC Zip' has a low frequency of plants with recurved flag leaves while 'AAC Nicolas' has a medium frequency of plants with recurved flag leaves. The flag leaf of 'AAC Zip' is shorter than the flag leaf of 'AAC Nicolas'. The plants of 'AAC Zip' head later than the plants of 'AAC Bullet'. The panicle of 'AAC Zip' is shorter than those of 'AAC Bullet' and 'AAC Nicolas'. The lower glume of 'AAC Zip' has a medium to strong glaucosity while those of 'AAC Bullet' and 'AAC Nicolas' have weak to medium glaucosity. At maturity, the lower glume of 'AAC Zip' is shorter than the lower glume of 'AAC Nicolas'. The lemma of 'AAC Zip' has a weak tendency to be awned whereas that of 'AAC Nicolas' has a medium tendency to be awned.

Description:

PLANT: spring hulled type, intermediate growth habit at 5 to 9 tiller stage, low frequency of plants with recurved flag leaves at booting

STEM: sparse to medium pubescence above and below the upper culm node

LOWER LEAF: absent or very sparse pubescence on sheath and blade
LEAF: medium green, absent to very sparse pubescence on margin of leaf below flag leaf, medium glaucosity at green stage

PANICLE: equilateral/symmetrical orientation, medium to dense, semi-erect attitude of branches, less than 30 degree angle between rachis and dominant side branch
SPIKELET: two grains
LEMMA: small extent of lateral overlap on palea, white at maturity, absent to very sparse pubescence on lateral and dorsal surface, weak tendency to be awned

KERNEL (PRIMARY KERNELS FROM UPPER SPIKELETS): basal hairs absent, cream colour
GROAT: medium pubescence

Origin & Breeding History: 'AAC Zip' (experimental designation 'OA1584-3' and '11W45-13') originated from the cross made in 2011 between 'AAC Bullet' and 'OA1331-5' at the Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada Ottawa Research and Development Centre in Ottawa, Ontario. It was developed using a modified single-seed decent approach followed by pedigreed seed selection. The cross was advanced to the F3 generation without selection. In 2013 and 2014, 5 lines were selected from panicle-hills based on plant height, maturity, hill size, panicle size, kernel size, plumpness, uniformity and test weight. In 2015, these lines were included in Home Tests across three locations in Eastern Canada. Based on yield and quality data, three lines were advanced in the Preliminary test in 2016 and one line, 'OA1584-3', was selected based on yield in non-rust sites. One hundred randomly selected seeds of this line were planted at 2 seeds per pot into 50 pots for crossing and seed increase. F8 plants were harvested individually and seed from 41 plants were included into separate observation plots in 2017. Twenty-two of these F8 derived lines were selected based on emergence and individually harvested. In 2019, 16 F8 derived lines were bulked to produce Breeder seed. Breeder seed was produced again in 2021.

Tests & Trials: The comparative trials for 'AAC Zip' were conducted at the Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada Ottawa Research and Development Centre in Ottawa, Ontario in 2019 and 2021. There were 4 replicates arranged in a RCB design. Each replicate consisted of six 3.8 metre long rows with 18 centimetre inter-row spacing. The seeding density was 330 seeds per metre squared resulting in a minimum of 5016 plants per variety. The measured characteristics were based on 20 measurements per variety per year. The mean differences were significant at the 5% probability level based on a Student's t-test.

Comparison tables for 'AAC Zip' with reference varieties 'AAC Bullet' and 'AAC Nicolas'

Flag leaf length (cm)

Days to heading (days from planting to when 50% of panicles are fully emerged)

Panicle length (mm)

Lower glume length (mm)

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Oat: 'AAC Zip'

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Oat: 'AAC Zip'

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Oat: 'AAC Zip' (left) with reference varieties 'AAC Nicolas' (center) and 'AAC Bullet' (right)