Abstract
From 1970 to nowadays, breeders have improved oilseed rape (Brassica napus) in many ways: creation of double low varieties (free of erucic acid and with a low content in glucosinolates), increase of the seed yield and quality of seeds and improvement of resistance to diseases. All this work helped oilseed rape to become one of the most produced oilseed crop in the world. However, this intensive breeding on quality has reduced the genetic diversity of winter oilseed rape. In this study, a group of four breeding companies (RAGT, Limagrain, Syngenta, Euralis) called “GIE Colza” has been working with INRAE (National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment, France) on the FSRSO project “Printiver”. This project aimed at enlarging the genetic variability available in winter-type oilseed rape through crossing with spring-type materials to create lines with a winter-type behavior (need of vernalization) and a genetic background that has introgressed spring-type genetic diversity. Two pools have been created and selected for their need of vernalization, date of flowering, yield and other agronomic traits. The Group tested these two pools in multilocal trials. The results show interestingper sevalue and combining ability.
Highlights
Oilseed rape is a global major crop used in human food, animal feed and chemistry industry
This project demonstrated the relevance of enlarging the genetic diversity of the elite wintertype oilseed rape (WOSR) germplasm through intercrossing with diverse spring-type oilseed rape (SOSR) lines
The results showed that it was possible to breed for winter habit OSR without losing too much of the spring genetic background
Summary
Oilseed rape is a global major crop used in human food (oil), animal feed (cattle cake) and chemistry industry. The main producers are Europe producing wintertype oilseed rape (WOSR), Canada and China producing spring-type oilseed rape (SOSR). In Europe, WOSR are sown in late summer/autumn and have early flowering as well as a better yield (35–40 q/ha) compared to SOSR (20–25 q/ha) that are sown in spring and have a shorter biological cycle as well as a late flowering time and a higher risk to encounter drought. In response to the demand of the market between 1960 and 1990, breeders reduced the erucic acid and glucosinolate content in oilseed rape seeds, creating varieties called double zero « 00 ». Due to this intensive breeding, genetic diversity of winter oilseed rape has been considerably narrowed (double bottlenecks) (Friedt and Snowdon, 2010). Current elite WOSR has a low genetic diversity, which may be a limitation to genetic progress
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
