GENE FLOW IN COMMERCIAL FIELDS OF HERBICIDE‐RESISTANT CANOLA (BRASSICA NAPUS)

Abstract

Multiple herbicide resistance to glyphosate, glufosinate, bromoxynil, or imidazolinone in volunteer plants of canola (Brassica napus) has been attributed to pollen flow among cultivars with different resistance traits. A study was conducted in Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1999 and 2000 to assess gene flow in space and time in adjacent commercial fields of glyphosate‐ and glufosinate‐resistant canola, including (1) estimation of gene flow with distance; (2) frequency and distribution of volunteers, and effect on gene flow; (3) effect of adventitious double herbicide‐resistant seed presence in seedlots planted; and (4) a comparison of various marker systems to track gene flow events. At 11 sites in 1999, gene flow was determined by sampling seeds from plants located at 0, 50, 100, 200, 400, 600, or 800 m along a transect perpendicular to the common border in the paired fields, spraying seedlings with glyphosate and glufosinate, and confirming the presence of the transgenes using commercial test strips and PCR analysis. In the spring of 2000, putative double herbicide‐resistant volunteers that survived sequential herbicide applications were mapped at three of the sites using GPS and resistance in sampled plants was characterized. In 1999, gene flow between the paired fields was detected to a maximum distance of 400 m. Values ranged from 1.4% outcrossing at the border common to the paired fields to 0.04% at 400 m. In 2000, gene flow as a result of pollen flow in 1999 was detected to the limits of the study areas (800 m). Large variation in gene flow levels and patterns among the three sites was evident. Adventitious presence of double herbicide‐resistant seed in glyphosate‐resistant seedlots planted at two of the sites in 1999 contributed to the occurrence of double herbicide‐resistant volunteers in 2000. The results of this study suggest that gene stacking in B. napus canola volunteers in western Canada may be common, and reflects pollen flow between different herbicide‐resistant canola, presence of double herbicide‐resistant off‐types in seedlots, and/or agronomic practices typically employed by Canadian growers.