Oilseed Brassica Rapa Research Articles

Patterns of subspecies genetic diversity among oilseed Brassica rapa as revealed by agro-morphological traits and SSR markers

Brassica rapa (2n = 20, AA genome) is an important oil yielding species of the family Brassicaceae and characterized by wide range of genetic and morphological subtypes suitable for cultivation under diverse agro-climatic regions of India. In this study, genetic diversity among three subspecies of B. rapa including yellow sarson, toria and outlier brown sarson was estimated using various agro-morphological traits and simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Maximum variability was recorded for siliqua angle (Coefficient of variation = 30.9%), followed by seeds/siliqua (CV = 18.8%), leaf length (CV = 10%) and plant height (CV = 16.8%). Principal component analysis explained more than 50% of the total observed morphological variability for first two components. Of the 107 SSR markers tested, 80 generated reproducible, clear and distinct amplicons of which, 65 (81.25%) were found polymorphic. The number of alleles at each locus ranged from 2 to 7, with an average of 3.03 alleles per marker. A total of 197 alleles were detected at 65 SSR loci with average PIC value of 0.457 and a mean resolving power of 3.04. Neighbor-Joining cluster analysis based on morphological traits and SSR markers separately classified all the 28 genotypes into five major groups. The population structure analysis resulted into three sub-populations with certain extent of admixture among the earlier established taxonomic sub-groups. Twenty-three unique alleles were detected in thirteen B. rapa varieties. The clustering analysis and principal coordinate analysis outlined the genetic relationships among different varieties belonging to the three subspecies of B. rapa. Genetically diverse genotypes as illustrated by score plots and from the clustering patterns brought out the wide range of diversity present among B. rapa genotypes and the underlying options available for selecting parental genotypes for hybridization and developing high yielding cultivars suitable for Indian conditions.

Biological Invasion of Imported Cabbageworm, Pieris rapae (L.), on Oilseed Brassica in Punjab, India

The infestation of imported cabbageworm/ small white butterfly, Pieris rapae (L.) (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) is reported on oilseed Brassica rapa ssp. oleifera, ecotype brown sarson cv. BSH 1 from Punjab, India. Though, it has been reported earlier on vegetable brassicas in India, there is no report of its infestation on oilseed brassica in this part of the country so far. A low infestation of 1.7-3.3 larvae per 10 plants was reported during first to third Standard Meteorological Week of 2014. Since this pest has potential to cause significant damage to oilseed brassica crops, therefore, timely reporting of this pest is important to avoid any future outbreak.

Global genetic diversity in oilseed Brassica rapa

Three major simple sequence repeat (SSR) groups were identified in a global collection of 164 oilseed Brassica rapa based on allelic diversity at loci: SSR group 1 (south Asia, predominantly from India, Pakistan, and Nepal); SSR group 2 (predominantly southern and eastern Europe with mostly winter and semi-winter types); and SSR group 3 (northern Europe, mostly from Germany, and many of unknown origin). Nine outliers from several regions were placed in a fourth SSR group, which had the highest allelic diversity per accession of all SSR groups. Analysis of molecular variance of SSR data supported four groups but indicated that genetic variance within populations was high (84%) compared with variance between populations. Flowering habit was classified as winter, spring or semi-winter type, and pollination control as self-incompatible or self-compatible. These phenotypes were distributed across each of the three SSR groups and outliers, although most SSR group 1 accessions were self-compatible spring types, and winter types were mainly from SSR groups 2 and 3. Two SSR sub-groups were present among Indian accessions, both of which contained brown-seeded types, but only one sub-group contained yellow-seeded types (most likely yellow sarson). Eleven B. rapa accessions were misclassified in genebanks as oilseed types but were re-classified as leafy or root vegetable types, and 12 accessions were misclassified as B. rapa and were shown to be allotetraploid or other Brassica species.

Exploitation of the late flowering species Brassica oleracea L. for the improvement of earliness in B. napus L.: an untraditional approach

The oilseed Brassica rapa flowers and matures earlier than B. oleracea, as well as their amphidiploid B. napus. Therefore, earliness of B.rapa has been investigated as a source of variation for earliness in B. napus breeding programs. Variation for days to flower exists in B. oleracea; however, its earliest flowering variant B. alboglabra flowers 2–3 weeks later than B. napus. We hypothesized that the C genome of B. alboglabra carries alleles for early flowering which are different from the C-genome alleles of B. napus; and these alleles can be used for the improvement of B. napus. To test this, we examined flowering time in pedigree and DH populations from two B. napus × B. alboglabra crosses. A B. napus line with about a week earlier flowering than the B. napus parent was achieved through reconstitution of its C genome following pedigree selection. Introgression of the B. alboglabra allele in the early flowering pedigree lines is also evident from the presence of B. alboglabra-specific SSR alleles in this line. However, application of doubled haploidy failed to generate any line that flowered earlier than the B. napus parent, which is probably due to the difficulty of obtaining large numbers of euploid B. napus DH lines from this interspecific cross. Thus, we demonstrate that a trait of the diploid species, which apparently looks undesirable, might in fact be highly valuable for the improvement of amphidiploids; and knowledge from this research can also be applied for other traits.

Genetic Diversity of European and Chinese Oilseed Brassica rapa Cultivars from Different Breeding Periods

The Brassica oilseed crops went through two major breeding bottlenecks during the introgression of genes for zero erucic acid and low glucosinolate content, respectively, which may lead to reduced genetic biodiversity of the crop. This study investigates the impact of these bottlenecks on the genetic diversity within and across European and Chinese winter B. rapa cultivars. We compared eight cultivars from Europe and China, representing three different seed qualities from three different breeding periods: (1) high erucic acid, high glucosinolates (++); (2) zero erucic acid, high glucosinolates (0+); (3) zero erucic acid, low glucosonolates (00, canola quality). Diversity was estimated on 32 plants per cultivar, with 16 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers covering each of the B. rapa linkage groups. The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that genetic variations within cultivars, across cultivars and across regions (Europe and China) were significant, with about 60% of the total variation within cultivars. There was a slight, but non-significant loss in genetic diversity within cultivars when comparing the three breeding periods as indicated by effective number of alleles (2.39, 2.23, and 1.99 for breeding periods 1, 2, and 3, respectively), Shannon information index (0.93, 0.90, 0.75), and expected heterozygosity (0.51, 0.49, 0.42). By cluster analysis (UPGMA dendrogram) and principal coordinate analysis, Chinese and European cultivars were clearly divided into two distinct groups. In conclusion, quality improvement did not significantly reduce the genetic diversity of European and Chinese B. rapa cultivars.

Effect of crop improvement on genetic diversity in oilseedBrassica rapa (turnip-rape) cultivars, detected by SSR markers

With the improvement of seed quality, Brassica rapa oilseed germplasm went through 2 major breeding bottlenecks during the introgression of genes for zero erucic acid content and low glucosinolate content, respectively. This study investigates the impact of these bottlenecks on the genetic diversity in European winter B. rapa by comparing 3 open-pollinated cultivars, each representing a different breeding period. Diversity was estimated on 32 plants per cultivar, with 16 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers covering each of the B. rapa linkage groups. There was no significant loss of genetic diversity over the 3 cultivars as indicated by allele number (ranging from 59 to 55), mean allele number (from 3.68 to 3.50), Shannon information index (from 0.94 to 0.87) and expected heterozygosity (from 0.53 to 0.48). About 83% of the total variation was attributed to within-cultivar variation, and the remaining 17% to between-cultivar variation by analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA). Individual plants were separated into the 3 cultivars by principal coordinate analysis (PCoA). In conclusion, genetic diversity within cultivars was high and quality breeding in B. rapa did not significantly reduce the genetic diversity of B. rapa winter cultivars, so there is no risk of decline in performance due to quality improvement.

Linkage mapping of genes controlling resistance to white rust (Albugo candida) in Brassica rapa (syn. campestris) and comparative mapping to Brassica napus and Arabidopsis thaliana.

Genes for resistance to white rust (Albugo candida) in oilseed Brassica rapa were mapped using a recombinant inbred (RI) population and a genetic linkage map consisting of 144 restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) markers and 3 phenotypic markers. Young seedlings were evaluated by inoculating cotyledons with A. candida race 2 (AC2) and race 7 (AC7) and scoring the interaction phenotype (IP) on a 0-9 scale. The IP of each line was nearly identical for the two races and the population showed bimodal distributions, suggesting that a single major gene (or tightly linked genes) controlled resistance to the two races. The IP scores were converted to categorical resistant and susceptible scores, and these data were used to map a single Mendelian gene controlling resistance to both races on linkage group 4 where resistance to race 2 had been mapped previously. A quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping approach using the IP scores detected the same major resistance locus for both races, plus a second minor QTL effect for AC2 on linkage group 2. These results indicate that either a dominant allele at a single locus (Acal) or two tightly linked loci control seedling resistance to both races of white rust in the biennial turnip rape cultivar Per. The map positions of white rust resistance genes in B. rapa and Brassica napus were compared and the results indicate where additional loci that have not been mapped may be located. Alignment of these maps to the physical map of the Arabidopsis genome identified regions to target for comparative fine mapping using this model organism.

Comparative mapping of loci controlling winter survival and related traits in oilseed Brassica rapa and B. napus

Winter survival is an important characteristic of oilseedBrassica that is seeded in the fall in northern climates,and it may be affected by genetic variation for other cold-regulated traits,such as freezing tolerance and vernalization responsive flowering time. Weanalyzed immortalized populations of oilseed Brassica rapa(recombinant inbred lines) and B. napus (double haploidlines) derived from crosses of annual and biennial types in order to comparethe map positions and effects of quantitative trait loci controlling wintersurvival, nonacclimated and acclimated freezing tolerances, and flowering time.The B. napus population was evaluated in multiple winters,and six of the 16 total significant QTL for winter survival were detected inmore than one winter. Correspondence in the map positions of QTL controllingdifferent traits within species provided evidence that some alleles causinggreater acclimated freezing tolerance and later flowering time also contributedto increased winter survival. Correspondence in the map positions of QTLbetween species provided evidence for allelic variation at homologous loci inB. rapa and B. napus. The potentialrole of some candidate genes in regulating these traits is discussed.