Project description:Flowering time adaptation is a major breeding goal in the allopolyploid species Brassica napus. To investigate the genetic architecture of flowering time, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of flowering time was conducted with a diversity panel comprising 523 B. napus cultivars and inbred lines grown in eight different environments. Genotyping was performed with a Brassica 60K Illumina Infinium SNP array. A total of 41 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) distributed on 14 chromosomes were found to be associated with flowering time, and 12 SNPs located in the confidence intervals of quantitative trait loci (QTL) identified in previous researches based on linkage analyses. Twenty-five candidate genes were orthologous to Arabidopsis thaliana flowering genes. To further our understanding of the genetic factors influencing flowering time in different environments, GWAS was performed on two derived traits, environment sensitivity and temperature sensitivity. The most significant SNPs were found near Bn-scaff_16362_1-p380982, just 13 kb away from BnaC09g41990D, which is orthologous to A. thaliana CONSTANS (CO), an important gene in the photoperiod flowering pathway. These results provide new insights into the genetic control of flowering time in B. napus and indicate that GWAS is an effective method by which to reveal natural variations of complex traits in B. napus.
Project description:Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) is grown in different geographical regions of the world. It is adapted to different environments by modification of flowering time and requirement for cold. A broad variation exists from very early-flowering spring-type to late-flowering winter cultivars which only flower after exposure to an extended cold period. B. napus is an allopolyploid species which resulted from the hybridization between B. rapa and B. oleracea. In Arabidopsis thaliana, the PEBP-domain genes FLOWERING LOCUS-T (FT) and TERMINAL FLOWER-1 (TFL1) are important integrators of different flowering pathways. Six FT and four TFL1 paralogs have been identified in B. napus. However, their role in flowering time control is unknown. We identified EMS mutants of the B. napus winter-type inbreed line Express 617. In total, 103 mutant alleles have been determined for BnC6FTb, BnC6FTa, and BnTFL1-2 paralogs. We chose three non-sense and 15 missense mutant lines (M3) which were grown in the greenhouse. Although only two out of 6 FT paralogs were mutated, 6 out of 8 BnC6FTb mutant lines flowered later as the control, whereas all five BnC6FTa mutant lines started flowering as the non-mutated parent. Mutations within the BnTFL1-2 paralog had no large effects on flowering time but on yield components. F1 hybrids between BnTFL1-2 mutants and non-mutated parents had increased seed number per pod and total seeds per plant suggesting that heterozygous mutations in a TFL1 paralog may impact heterosis in rapeseed. We demonstrate that single point-mutations in BnFT and BnTFL1 paralogs have effects on flowering time despite the redundancy of the rapeseed genome. Moreover, our results suggest pleiotropic effects of BnTFL1 paralogs beyond the regulation of flowering time.
Project description:Research on the environmental risks of gene flow from genetically modified (GM) crops to wild relatives has traditionally emphasized recipients yielding most hybrids. For GM rapeseed (Brassica napus), interest has centred on the 'frequently hybridizing' Brassica rapa over relatives such as Brassica oleracea, where spontaneous hybrids are unreported in the wild. In two sites, where rapeseed and wild B. oleracea grow together, we used flow cytometry and crop-specific microsatellite markers to identify one triploid F1 hybrid, together with nine diploid and two near triploid introgressants. Given the newly discovered capacity for spontaneous introgression into B. oleracea, we then surveyed associated flora and fauna to evaluate the capacity of both recipients to harm cohabitant species with acknowledged conservational importance. Only B. oleracea occupies rich communities containing species afforded legislative protection; these include one rare micromoth species that feeds on B. oleracea and warrants further assessment. We conclude that increased attention should now focus on B. oleracea and similar species that yield few crop-hybrids, but possess scope to affect rare or endangered associates.
Project description:Timely flowering is important for seed formation and maximization of rapeseed (Brassica napus) yield. Here, we performed flowering-time quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping using a double haploid (DH) population grown in three environments to study the genetic architecture. Brassica 60 K Illumina Infinium™ single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array and simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were used for genotyping of the DH population, and a high-density genetic linkage map was constructed. QTL analysis of flowering time from the three environments revealed five consensus QTLs, including two major QTLs. A major QTL located on chromosome A03 was detected specifically in the semi-winter rapeseed growing region, and the one on chromosome C08 was detected in all environments. Ribonucleic acid sequencing (RNA-seq) was performed on the parents' leaves at seven time-points in a day to determine differentially expressed genes (DEGs). The biological processes and pathways with significant enrichment of DEGs were obtained. The DEGs in the QTL intervals were analyzed, and four flowering time-related candidate genes were found. These results lay a foundation for the genetic regulation of rapeseed flowering time and create a rapeseed gene expression library for seven time-points in a day.
Project description:Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) is one of the most important oil crops in the world. The planting area and output of rapeseed are affected by the flowering time, which is a critical agronomic feature. COL9 controls growth and development in many different plant species as a member of the zinc finger transcription factor family. However, BnaCOL9 in rapeseed has not been documented. The aim of this study was to apply CRISPR/Cas9 technology to create an early-flowering germplasm resource to provide useful material for improving the early-maturing breeding of rapeseed. We identified four COL9 homologs in rapeseed that were distributed on chromosomes A05, C05, A03, and C03. We successfully created quadruple BnaCOL9 mutations in rapeseed using the CRISPR/Cas9 platform. The quadruple mutants of BnaCOL9 flowered earlier than the wild-type. On the other hand, the flowering time of the BnaCOL9 overexpression lines was delayed. An analysis of the expression patterns revealed that these genes were substantially expressed in the leaves and flowers. A subcellular localization experiment demonstrated that BnaCOL9 was in the nucleus. Furthermore, we discovered that two key flowering-related genes, BnaCO and BnaFT, were highly elevated in the BnaCOL9 mutants, but dramatically downregulated in the BnaCOL9 overexpression lines. Our findings demonstrate that BnaCOL9 is a significant flowering inhibitor in rapeseed and may be employed as a crucial gene for early-maturing breeding.
Project description:Flowering time is strongly related to the environment, while the genotype-by-environment interaction study for flowering time is lacking in Brassica napus. Here, a total of 11,700,689 single nucleotide polymorphisms in 490 B. napus accessions were used to associate with the flowering time and related climatic index in eight environments using a compressed variance-component mixed model, 3VmrMLM. As a result, 19 stable main-effect quantitative trait nucleotides (QTNs) and 32 QTN-by-environment interactions (QEIs) for flowering time were detected. Four windows of daily average temperature and precipitation were found to be climatic factors highly correlated with flowering time. Ten main-effect QTNs were found to be associated with these flowering-time-related climatic indexes. Using differentially expressed gene (DEG) analysis in semi-winter and spring oilseed rapes, 5,850 and 5,511 DEGs were found to be significantly expressed before and after vernalization. Twelve and 14 DEGs, including 7 and 9 known homologs in Arabidopsis, were found to be candidate genes for stable QTNs and QEIs for flowering time, respectively. Five DEGs were found to be candidate genes for main-effect QTNs for flowering-time-related climatic index. These candidate genes, such as BnaFLCs, BnaFTs, BnaA02.VIN3, and BnaC09.PRR7, were further validated by the haplotype, selective sweep, and co-expression networks analysis. The candidate genes identified in this study will be helpful to breed B. napus varieties adapted to particular environments with optimized flowering time.
Project description:BackgroundFlowering time, plant height and seed yield are strongly influenced by climatic and day-length adaptation in crop plants. To investigate these traits under highly diverse field conditions in the important oilseed crop Brassica napus, we performed a genome-wide association study using data from diverse agroecological environments spanning three continents.MethodsA total of 158 European winter-type B.napus inbred lines were genotyped with 21,623 unique, single-locus single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers using the Brassica 60 K-SNP Illumina® Infinium consortium array. Phenotypic associations were calculated in the panel over the years 2010-2012 for flowering time, plant height and seed yield in 5 highly diverse locations in Germany, China and Chile, adding up to 11 diverse environments in total.ResultsWe identified 101 genome regions associating with the onset of flowering, 69 with plant height, 36 with seed yield and 68 cross-trait regions with potential adaptive value. Within these regions, B.napus orthologs for a number of candidate adaptation genes were detected, including central circadian clock components like CIRCADIAN CLOCK- ASSOCIATED 1 (Bna.CCA1) and the important flowering-time regulators FLOWERING LOCUS T (Bna.FT) and FRUITFUL (Bna.FUL).DiscussionGene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis of candidate regions suggested that selection of genes involved in post-transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of flowering time may play a potential role in adaptation of B. napus to highly divergent environments. The classical flowering time regulators Bna.FLC and Bna.CO were not found among the candidate regions, although both show functional variation. Allelic effects were additive for plant height and yield, but not for flowering time. The scarcity of positive minor alleles for yield in this breeding pool points to a lack of diversity for adaptation that could restrict yield gain in the face of environmental change.ConclusionsOur study provides a valuable framework to further improve the adaptability and yield stability of this recent allopolyploid crop under changing environments. The results suggest that flowering time regulation within an adapted B. napus breeding pool is driven by a high number of small modulating processes rather than major transcription factors like Bna.CO. In contrast, yield regulation appears highly parallel, therefore yield could be increased by pyramiding positively associated haplotypes.
Project description:Hybrid breeding relies on the combination of parents from two differing heterotic groups. However, the genetic diversity in adapted oilseed rape breeding material is rather limited. Therefore, the use of resynthesized Brassica napus as a distant gene pool was investigated. Hybrids were derived from crosses between 44 resynthesized lines with a diverse genetic background and two male sterile winter oilseed rape tester lines. The hybrids were evaluated together with their parents and check cultivars in 2 years and five locations in Germany. Yield, plant height, seed oil, and protein content were monitored, and genetic distances were estimated with molecular markers (127 polymorphic RFLP fragments). Resynthesized lines varied in yield between 40.9 dt/ha and 21.5 dt/ha, or between 85.1 and 44.6% of check cultivar yields. Relative to check cultivars, hybrids varied from 91.6 to 116.6% in yield and from 94.5 to 103.3% in seed oil content. Mid-parent heterosis varied from -3.5 to 47.2% for yield. The genetic distance of parental lines was not significantly correlated with heterosis or hybrid yield. Although resynthesized lines do not meet the elite rapeseed standards, they are a valuable source for hybrid breeding due to their large distance from present breeding material and their high heterosis when combined with European winter oilseed rape.
Project description:Four different parts, hypocotyl and radicle (HR), inner cotyledon (IC), outer cotyledon (OC), seed coat and endosperm (SE), were sampled from mature rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) by laser microdissection. Subsequently, major secondary metabolites, glucosinolates and sinapine, as well as three minor ones, a cyclic spermidine conjugate and two flavonoids, representing different compound categories, were qualified and quantified in dissected samples by high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection and mass spectrometry. No qualitative and quantitative difference of glucosinolates and sinapine was detected in embryo tissues (HR, IC and OC). On the other hand, the three minor compounds were observed to be distributed unevenly in different rapeseed tissues. The hypothetic biological functions of the distribution patterns of different secondary metabolites in rapeseed are discussed.
Project description:BackgroundOptimum flowering time is a key agronomic trait in Brassica napus. To investigate the genetic architecture and genetic regulation of flowering time in this important crop, we conducted quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis of flowering time in a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population, including lines with extreme differences in flowering time, in six environments, along with RNA-Seq analysis.ResultsWe detected 27 QTLs distributed on eight chromosomes among six environments, including one major QTL on chromosome C02 that explained 11-25% of the phenotypic variation and was stably detected in all six environments. RNA-Seq analysis revealed 105 flowering time-related differentially expressed genes (DEGs) that play roles in the circadian clock/photoperiod, autonomous pathway, and hormone and vernalization pathways. We focused on DEGs related to the regulation of flowering time, especially DEGs in QTL regions.ConclusionsWe identified 45 flowering time-related genes in these QTL regions, eight of which are DEGs, including key flowering time genes PSEUDO RESPONSE REGULATOR 7 (PRR7) and FY (located in a major QTL region on C02). These findings provide insights into the genetic architecture of flowering time in B. napus.