The genetic secrets of oats revealed – An international research breakthrough enables the breeding of improved oat varieties
An international research team has successfully created a genetic map of oats – the pangenome and pantranscriptome, which show when and where oat genes are active in different parts of the plant. This breakthrough helps scientists understand which genes are important for yield, adaptation, and health, providing valuable tools for oat breeding.
Understanding the oat genome has so far been difficult because it is exceptionally large and complex. The research team sequenced and analyzed the genomes of 33 oat lines, including both cultivated varieties and their wild relatives. To create the pantranscriptome, a gene expression atlas, the scientists examined gene activity in six tissues and developmental stages of 23 of these oat lines using state-of-the-art sequencing technologies.
“Decoding the oat pangenome demonstrates how modern genomics can advance basic research and directly impact health, agriculture, and breeding,” says Dr. Martin Mascher, head of the Domestication Genomics research group at the IPK Leibniz Institute and coordinator of the international PanOat consortium.
A significant part of the sequencing work was carried out at the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke). “We led the sequencing of the entire pantranscriptome, master catalog of all the genes that are actively used, for all genomes and tissues and developed the methods and protocols that made the work possible in the first place”, explains Senior Scientist Lidija Bitz, joint first author who led the analysis of the pantranscriptome for the international PanOat consortium.
Brigham Young University (BYU) in Utah, USA, also contributed to the pantranscriptome project. A substantial portion of the transcriptome sequencing was performed in Finland — primarily at the Turku Bioscience Centre (Finnish Functional Genomics Centre), with additional work conducted in-house at the genomics laboratory of LUKE in Jokioinen.
"Large international genome research projects are critically important for the development of breeding and breeding technologies. Genomic selection is a key component of a sustainable bioeconomy – it supports food security, climate resilience, and production profitability. Quality breeding is also essential to ensure that oats are well suited for a wide range of plant-based food applications, the number of which has increased significantly in recent years," says Sirja Viitala, Research Manager at Luke.
Opportunities for Developing Finland’s Food Chain
Finland is a global oat powerhouse—ranking among the top five producers worldwide and standing out as a leading exporter of cereals. The importance of oats as a raw material for Finland’s food industry has grown, particularly alongside the development of plant-based alternatives to meat and dairy products. Oats are rich in dietary fiber, cholesterol-lowering beta-glucan, and numerous other valuable compounds such as antioxidants and healthy fats. In a changing climate, breeding resilient oat varieties is essential, and that journey begins with decoding oat genes and genomes. Breeding more diverse oat varieties opens new opportunities and strengthens Finland’s food sector.
“Oats hold an exceptionally strong position in Finland – they are both an export grain, a health food, and a raw material for the food industry. Research, breeding, and the development of oat value chains are strategically important for building a sustainable food system and renewing agriculture,” says Viitala.
Oat breeding has lagged behind—especially compared to barley, for example. Historically, oats have had lower industrial demand in Finland. The cultivation area has decreased significantly over the past century, and in recent decades, only a few dozen new varieties have been developed and approved.
The latest research enables the renewal of this traditional crop to meet modern needs and changing growing conditions. Decoding oat genomes and transcriptomes will help develop varieties that are more resilient to climate change and plant diseases. This breakthrough paves the way for broader and more innovative uses of oats in the future.
"If the genome is like a score, the transcriptome is the performance. A pantranscriptome is like recording many orchestras playing similar pieces in different styles—punk, metal, jazz, classical, rock. It reveals all the variations in how genetic instructions can be interpreted", Lidija Bitz explains.
The PanOat consortium, led by the IPK Leibniz Institute in Germany, included Luke as a crucial part of the international research team, coordinating and leading the complete transcriptome work for all partners. The results were published in Nature under the title “A pangenome and pantranscriptome of hexaploid oat.”
