Yellow seed colour in Brassica napus is a desired trait and has a strong impact on the quality of Canola and the processed products from the seed. The trait is accompanied with a thinner seed coat when compared to black seeds. For the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, different mutants have been characterised showing the transparent testa phenotype to be associated with light seed colour due to...

The comparative effects of different concentrations of saline soil and saline irrigation water were investigated on growth of canola (cv. Ganyou-5). Plants were subjected to control (non-saline), 0.2% (EC 2.5 dS.m-1), 0.4% (EC 4.5 dS.m-1) and 0.6% (EC 6.5 dS.m-1) of sea salt concentrations in soil as well as saline irrigation water. Vegetative growth parameters recorded were plant height, numbe...

Canola oil is high in oleic acid which is commonly used for food and industrial purposes. To determine adaptability of spring canola (Brassica napus L.) to the High Plains for industrial oil production, 26 irrigated trials were conducted from 2005 to 2008. Trials were divided into five regions—1: 36–37◦N 108◦W; 2: 39–40◦N 101–103◦W; 3: 41–42◦N 102–103◦W; 4: 41–42◦N 104◦W; 5: 43–44◦N 106–108◦W. ...

The liquid-liquid equilibrium (LLE) phase boundaries were determined experimentally for the ternary systems containing refined sunflower oil, methanol, and one of ten potential cosolvents at 308.2 K under atmospheric pressure by using cloud point method. n-Butylamine was found to be one of the best cosolvents, which could substantially enhance the miscibility between the oil and methanol. The L...

In addition to the primary use of canola in oil pressing, canola is important as a feed supplement for livestock. We have developed a new approach (termed PiggyBackTM expression) that can be used to enhance the histidine content of canola protein. Using PiggyBackTM expression (a novel recombinant approach for generically improving the amino acid composition in crop plants) the histidine content...

Delay of leaf senescence through genetic modification can potentially improve crop yield, through maintenance of photosynthetically active leaves for a longer period. Plant growth hormones such as cytokinin regulate and delay leaf senescence. Here, the structural gene (IPT) encoding the cytokinin biosynthetic enzyme isopentenyltransferase was fused to a functionally active fragment of the AtMYB...

In their seed triacylglycerols, Cuphea carthagenensis contains 62% lauric acid; maize possesses 50% linoleic acid and 30% oleic acid; rapeseed (Brassica napus L. var Dwarf Essex) has 40% erucic acid; and Canola (Brassica napus L. var Tower) holds 60% oleic acid and 23% linoleic acid. Diacylglycerol acyltransferase (EC 2.3.1.20) in the microsomal preparations from maturing seeds of the above spe...

Quantitative traits, such as size and weight in animals and seed yield in plants, are distributed normally, even within a population of genetically identical individuals. For example, in plants, various factors, such as local soil quality, microclimate, and sowing depth, affect growth differences among individual plants of isogenic populations. Besides these physical factors, also epigenetic co...