Effects of Meteorological Factors on Overwintering Ability,Yield and Quality of Forage Rape

In order to investigate the effects of meteorological factors on rape overwintering ability,forage yield and quality of rape in the North China plain,Brassia campestris L.and Brassica napus L.were used in this study.The results showed that compared with the B.napus L.varieties,the growth period of B.campestris L.was shortened by 10-15 d,the overwintering rate(WR)increased by 50.6%,and the density after winter(PD)increased by 41.5%.The fresh forage yield(FFY)and dry forage yield(DFY)of the B.campestris L.type significantly increased by 40.9%and 38.1%compared with the B.napus L.type.,respectively,while the forage quality of the B.napus L.type rape was significantly better than that of the B.campestris L.type.Compared with the B.campestris L.type,the crude protein(CP),fat,ash and total fatty acid(TFA)contents of the B.napus L.type of rape increased by 27.6%,42.9%,23.9%and 52.3%,respectively,and the milk productivity(HM),relative forage value(RFV)and relative forage quality(RFQ)increased by 14.0%,16.2%and 42.1%,respectively.The light and heat resources before wintering increased the WR and PD(P<0.05),and were positively correlated with FFY and DFY(P>0.05),and lower temperature during the wintering period led to lower WR(P<0.01).The light and heat resources during the overwintering period and after regreening were negatively correlated with FFY and DFY(P>0.05).The contents of CP,fat and TFA of rape had an extremely significant negative correlation with the temperature and sunshine hours before wintering,but an extremely significant positive correlation with the temperature during the wintering period and after regreening,as well as the sunshine hours and rainfall during the wintering period;and HM had an extremely significant positive correlation with the temperature,sunshine hours and rainfall during the wintering period,while RFV and RFQ were only extremely significantly positively correlated with the maximum temperature and rainfall.In summary,in the North China Plain,for autumn sowing rape,the B.campestris L.type can be selected to improve the wintering rate,and the B.napus L.type should be the main choice to improve the forage quality of rape.Therefore,the B.napus L.variety HYZ62 can be selected for autumn sowing in the North China Plain.

Genome assembly of the Brassicaceae diploid Orychophragmus violaceus reveals complex whole-genome duplication and evolution of dihydroxy fatty acid metabolism

Orychophragmus violaceus is a Brassicaceae species widely cultivated in China,particularly as a winter cover crop in northern China because of its low-temperature tolerance and low water demand.Recently,O.violaceus has also been cultivated as a potential industrial oilseed crop because of its abundant 24-carbon dihydroxy fatty acids(diOH-FAs),which contribute to superior high-temperature lubricant properties.In this study,we performed de novo assembly of the O.violaceus genome.Whole-genome synteny analysis of the genomes of its relatives demonstrated that O.violaceus is a diploid that has undergone an extrawhole-genome duplication(WGD)after the Brassicaceae-specific a-WGD event,with a basic chromosome number of x=12.Formation of diOH-FAs is hypothesized to have occurred after the WGD event.Based on the genome and the transcriptome data from multiple stages of seed development,we predicted that OvDGAT1-1 and OvDGAT1-2 are candidate genes for the regulation of diOH-FA storage in O.violaceus seeds.These results may greatly facilitate the development of heat-tolerant and eco-friendly plant-based lubricants using O.violaceus seed oil and improve our understanding of the genomic evolution of Brassicaceae.

A genome scan for quantitative trait loci affecting grain yield and its components of maize both in single-and two-locus levels

By adding thirty-one markers in the pre- vious linkage map, a new genetic linkage map con- taining 205 markers was constructed, spanning a total of 2305.4 cM with an average interval of 11.2 cM. The genotypic errors in the whole genome were de- tected by the statistical method and removed manu- ally. The precision of the linkage map was improved significantly. Main and epistatic QTL were detected by R/qtl, and main QTL were confirmed and refined by multiple interval mapping (MIM). Finally, MIM de- tected seven QTL for rows number, and five QTL for each grain yield, kernels per row and 100-kernel weight. The contribution to genetic variations of QTL varied from 35.3% for grain yield to 61.5% for rows number. Only kernels per row exhibited significant epistatic interactions between QTL. Twenty-four epistatic QTL were detected which distributed on almost all the ten chromosomes. About two-third epistatic QTL were observed between main QTL and another locus, which had no significant effects. These results indicate rather clearly that there are a number of QTL affecting trait expressions, not directly but indirectly through interactions with other loci. Thus, epistatic QTL effects may play a crucial role, if not more important than main QTL effects, in the genetic variation for the measured traits in present study.

High efficiency production and genomic in situ hybridization analysis of Brassica aneuploids and homozygous plants

Interspecific and intergeneric hybridizations have been widely used in plant genetics and breeding to construct stocks for genetic analysis and to introduce into crops the desirable traits and genes from their relatives. The intergeneric crosses between Brassica juncea (L.) Czern. & Coss., B. carinata A. Braun and Orychophragmus violaceus (L.) O. E. Schulz were made and the plants produced were subjected to genomic in situ hybridization analysis. The mixoploids from the cross with B. juncea were divided into three groups. The partially fertile mixoploids in the first group (2n = 36—42) mainly contained the somatic cells and pollen mother cells (PMCs) with the 36 chromosomes of B. juncea and additional chromosomes of O. violaceus. The mixoploids (2n = 30—36) in the second and third groups were morphologically quite similar to the mother plants B. juncea and showed nearly normal fertility. The plants in the second group produced the majority of PMCs (2n = 36) with their chromosomes paired and segregated normally, but 1—4 pairs of the O. violaceus chromosomes were included in some PMCs. The plants in the third group produced only PMCs with the 36 B. juncea chromosomes, which were paired and segregated normally. The mixoploids (2n = 29—34) from the cross with B. carinata produced the majority of PMCs (2n = 34) with normal chromosome pairing and segregation, but some plants had some PMCs with 1—3 pairs of chromosomes from O. violaceus and other plants had only PMCs with the B. carinata chromosomes. The Brassica homozygous plants and aneuploids with complete or partial chromo-some complements of Brassica parents and various numbers of O. violaceus chromosomes were derived from these progeny plants. The results in this study provided the molecular cytogenetic evidence for the separation of parental genomes which was previously proposed to occur in the hybridizations of these two genera.