Rapid and uniform seed germination is a crucial prerequisite for crop establishment and high yield levels in crop production. A disclosure of genetic factors contributing to adequate seed vigor would help to further increase yield potential and stability. Here we carried out a genome-wide association study in order to define genomic regions influencing seed germination and early seedling growth...

Canola (Brassica rapa) is an oilseed crop that is related to broccoli (Brassica oleracea var Italica) and turnip (Brassica campestris var Rapifera). The name ‘canola’ actually stands for ‘Canadian oil, low acid’. Canola’s low erucic acid content differentiates it from rapeseed (Brassica napus) and is sometimes referred to as LEAR or ‘low erucic acid rapeseed.’ Canola seed contains about 40% oil...

Crop rotations that include tap-rooted species of cover crops may help alleviate the deleterious effects of soil compaction on plant growth by modifying soil physical properties. We studied the effects of compaction and cover crops on the least limiting water range (LLWR) and air permeability in the surface layers of a loamy (Exp. 1) and a sandy soil (Exp. 2). There were three compaction treatm...

A virus disease of cabbage (Brassica olerácea Li. var. capitata L.), designated as black ring, is prevalent mainly during the winter and spring seasons near San Pablo and Colma in the San Francisco Bay section and in the Sacramento, Salinas, and Santa Clara Valleys of California (18).^ Other crucifers of more importance ill California, including Brussels sprouts (B. olerácea L. var. gemmijera D...

BRASSICA GENOME RESEARCH TOPIC Brassica species include important crops and provide unique materials for the study of genome evolution. These crops include six important vegetables and oilseed crops, which have been classically described by “U’s triangle’. The three diploid species B. rapa (A genome), B. nigra (B genome), and B. oleracea (C genome) have formed the amphidiploid species B. juncea...

The fungus Leptosphaeria maculans (L. maculans) is the causal agent of blackleg disease of canola/oilseed rape (Brassica napus) worldwide. We previously reported cloning of the B. napus blackleg resistance gene, LepR3, which encodes a receptor-like protein. LepR3 triggers localized cell death upon recognition of its cognate Avr protein, AvrLm1. Here, we exploited the Nicotiana benthamiana model...

Release of transgenic insect-resistant crops creates the potential not only for the insect pest to evolve resistance but for the escape of transgenes that may confer novel or enhanced fitness-related traits through hybridization with their wild relatives. The differential response of diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) populations in eastern and western Canada to Bt-producing (GT) Brassica n...

A novel subclass of dehydrin genes, homologous to the Raphanus sativus late embryogenesis-abundant (LEA) protein (RsLEA2) and the Arabidopsis thaliana dehydrin, was isolated from Brassica juncea and Brassica napus, here designated BjDHN1 and BnDHN1, respectively. The cDNA of BjDHN1 and BnDHN1 genes share 100% nucleotide identity. The encoded protein is predicted to consist of 183 amino acid res...