The narrow genetic diversity in Brassica napus L. (AACC, 2n = 38) canola is one of the major impediment for continued improvement of this crop. Among the different primary gene pools of B. napus, rutabaga (B. napus var. napobrassica) is genetically distinct from spring canola. The potential value of this gene pool for use in the breeding of B. napus canola was investigated in the present study. For this, 93 advanced generation inbred lines with a spring growth habit were developed from F2 and BC1 populations of rutabaga × spring canola crosses and evaluated in replicated field trials for agronomic and seed quality traits. These inbred lines were also genotyped with SSR markers to assess the extent of allelic diversity introgressed from rutabaga into the inbred lines. Some of the inbred lines gave higher seed yield and had greater oil content than their spring canola parent. Molecular marker analysis showed that genetically distinct B. napus canola lines carrying unique alleles of the A and C genomes of rutabaga could be obtained from both F2– and BC1–derived populations. Thus, the results demonstrate the potential of using the rutabaga gene pool for the improvement of B. napus canola.
The use of rutabaga for increasing the level of heterosis in spring canola was investigated. For this, test hybrids were produced by crossing four inbred populations, derived from F 2 and BC 1 of two rutabaga × spring canola crosses, to their spring canola parent, and were tested in field-plots for agronomic and seed quality traits. Average mid-parent heterosis (MPH) in these test hybrid populations was about 5%-15% for yield. Compared to the F 2 -derived population, the BC 1 -derived population exhibited 1.8-times greater MPH for yield. No correlation was found between inbred and test hybrid for yield; however, a positive correlation of genetic diversity of the inbred lines was found with MPH (r = .58) and hybrid yield (r = .36) suggesting that non-additive effect of the genes may play an important role for high yield in hybrids. About 2% negative MPH was found for days to flowering, while almost no heterosis was found for seed oil and protein contents. Thus, our study demonstrates the potential of the rutabaga gene pool for use in hybrid canola breeding.
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