Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T15:49:04.017Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Reproductive phenology of transgenic Brassica napus cultivars: Effect on intraspecific gene flow

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 October 2009

Marie-Josée Simard
Affiliation:
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Soils and Crops Research and Development Centre, Québec, QC, G1V 2J3, Canada
Anne Légère
Affiliation:
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Saskatoon Research Centre, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 0X2, Canada
Christian J. Willenborg
Affiliation:
Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, Dept. Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science 410 Agriculture/Forestry Centre, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2P5, Canada

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Pollen-mediated gene flow in space is well documented and isolation distances are recommended to ensure genetic purity of Brassica napus seed crops. Isolation in time could also contribute to gene flow management but has been little investigated. We assessed the effects of asynchronous and synchronous flowering on intraspecific B. napus gene flow by seeding adjacent plots of transgenic spring canola cultivars, either resistant to glyphosate or glufosinate, over a 0–4 week interval and measuring outcrossing rates and seed-set. Outcrossing rates, evaluated in the center of the first adjacent row, were reduced to the lowest level in plots flowering first when the seeding interval > 2 weeks. Increasing the time gap increased outcrossing rates in plots flowering second up to a seeding interval of two weeks. Flowers that opened during the last week of the flowering period produced fewer seed (< 10% of total seed production) and a smaller fraction of outcrossed seed (–25%). Observed time gap effects were likely caused by extraneous pollen load during the receptivity of productive seed-setting early flowers. Clearly, manipulation of B. napus flowering development through staggered planting dates can contribute to gene flow management. The approach will need to be validated by additional site-years and increased isolation distances.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© ISBR, EDP Sciences, 2009

References

Angadi, SV, Cutforth, HW, McConkey, BG, Gan, Y (2003) Yield adjustement by canola grown at different plant populations under semi-arid conditions. Crop Sci. 43: 13581366 CrossRef
Becker, HC, Damgaard, C, Karlsson, B (1992) Environmental variation for outcrossing rate in rapeseed (Brassica napus). Theor. Appl. Genet. 84: 303306
Beckie, HJ, Hall, LM (2008) Simple to complex: Modelling crop pollen-mediated gene flow. Plant Sci. 175: 615628 CrossRef
Beckie, HJ, Warwick, SI, Nair, H, Séguin-Swartz G (2003) Gene flow in commercial fields of herbicide-resistant canola (Brassica napus). Ecol. Appl. 13: 12761294 CrossRef
Beckie, HJ, Harker, KN, Hall, LM, Warwick, SI, Légère, A, Sikkema, PH, Clayton, GW, Thomas, AG, Leeson, JY, Séguin-Swartz, G, Simard, M-J (2006) A decade of herbicide-resistant crops in Canada. Can. J. Plant Sci. 86: 12431264 CrossRef
Canola Council of Canada (2008) Canola Growers Manual. http://www.canola-council.org/canola_growers_manual.aspx
Cuthbert, JL, McVetty, PBE (2001) Plot-to-plot, row-to-row and plant-to-plant outcrossing studies in oilseed rape. Can. J. Plant Sci. 81: 657664 CrossRef
Damgaard, C, Loeschcke, V (1994) Genotypic variation for reproductive characters, and the influence of pollen-ovule ratio on selfing rate in rape seed (Brassica napus). J. Evol. Biol. 7: 599607 CrossRef
Della Porta G, Ederle D, Bucchini L, Prandi M, Verderio A, Pozzi C (2008) Maize pollen mediated gene flow in the Po valley (Italy): Source-recipient distance and effect of flowering time. Eur. J. Agron. 28: 255–265
Fox, GA (2003) Assortative mating and plant phenology: evolutionary and practical consequences. Evol. Ecol. Res. 5: 118
Fox GA, Pickering CM (1997) Methods for estimating phenological assortative mating, with an application to Australian Ranunculus. Meeting of the Society for the Study of Evolution, Boulder, Colorado, USA, 12 p, available at http://chuma.cas.usf.edu/ gfox/papers/manual/ssepost.pdf
Friesen LF, Nelson AG, Van Acker RC (2003) Evidence of contamination of pedigreed canola (Brassica napus) seedlots in Western Canada with genetically engineered herbicide resistance traits. Agron. J. 95: 1342–1347
Gulden, RH, Shirtliffe, SJ, Thomas, AG (2003) Harvest losses of canola (Brassica napus) causes large seedbank inputs. Weed Sci. 51: 8386 CrossRef
Hall, L, Topinka, K, Huffman, J, Davis, L, Good, A (2000) Pollen flow between herbicide-resistant Brassica napus is the cause of multiple-resistant B. napus volunteers. Weed Sci. 48: 688694 CrossRef
Hinata, K, Konno, N (1975) Number of pollen grains in Brassica and allied genera. Tohoku J. Agric. Res. 26: 117124
Hüsken, A, Dietz-Pfeilstetter A (2007) Pollen-mediated intraspecific gene flow from herbicide resistant oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.). Transgenic Res. 16: 557569 CrossRef
Ingram J (2000) The separation distances required to ensure cross-pollination is below specified limits in non-seed crops of sugarbeet, maize and oilseed rape. Plant Var. Seeds 13: 181–199
Knispel, AL, McLachlan, SM, Van Acker, RC, Friesen, LF (2008) Gene flow and multiple herbicide resistance in escaped canola populations. Weed Sci. 56: 7280 CrossRef
Kotowski, Z (2001) Results of the investigations into nectar secretion and pollen production of new cultivars of rape (Brassica napus L.). Acta Hort. (ISHS) 561: 127129 CrossRef
Morris, WF, Kareiva, PM, Raymer, PL (1994) Do barren zones and pollen traps reduce genetic escape from transgenic crops? Ecol. Appl. 4: 157165 CrossRef
Pechan, PM (1988) Ovule fertilization and seed number per pod determination in oil seed rape Brassica napus. Ann. Bot-London 61: 201208 CrossRef
Rakow, G, Woods, D (1987) Out-crossing in rape and mustard under Saskatchewan prairie conditions. Can. J. Plant Sci. 67: 147151 CrossRef
Reboud, X (2003) Effect of a gap on gene flow between otherwise adjacent transgenic Brassica napus crops. Theor. Appl. Genet. 106: 10481058 CrossRef
Rogers CA, Wayne PM, Macklin EA, Muilenberg ML, Wagner CJ, Epstein PR, Bazzaz FA (2006) Interaction of the onset of spring and elevated atmospheric CO2 on ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) pollen production. Environ. Health Perspect. 1146: 865–869
SAS (2002) SAS/STAT User's Guide, Version 9.1. SAS Institute Inc., Cary, North Carolina, USA, 5180 p
Scheffler, JA, Parkinson, R, Dale, PJ (1995) Evaluating the effectiveness of isolation distances for field plots of oilseed rape (Brassica napus) using a herbicide-resistance transgene as a selectable marker. Plant Breeding 114: 317321 CrossRef
Simard, M-J, Légère, A (2004) Synchrony of flowering between canola and wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum). Weed Sci. 52: 905912 CrossRef
Simard, M-J, Légère, A, Warwick, SI (2006) Transgenic Brassica napus fields and Brassica rapa weeds in Québec: sympatry and weed-crop in situ hybridization. Can. J. Bot. 84: 18421851 CrossRef
Singh, SK, Kakani, VG, Brand, D, Baldwin, B, Reddy, KR (2008) Assessment of cold and heat tolerance of winter-grown canola (Brassica napus L.) cultivars by pollen-based parameters. J. Agron. Crop Sci. 194: 225236 CrossRef
Statistics Canada (2008) Field and specialty crops (seeded area). Available at http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/prim11a.htm, 1 p
Tan S, Evans RR, Dahmer ML, Singh BK, Shaner DL (2005) Imidazolinone-tolerant crops: history, current status and future. Pest Manage. Sci. 61: 246–257
U N (1935) Genome analysis in Brassica with special reference to the experimental formation of B. napus and peculiar mode of fertilization. J. Jpn. Bot. 7: 389452
Warwick, SI, Légère, A, Simard, M-J, James, T (2008) Do escaped transgenes persist in nature? The case of an herbicide resistance transgene in a weedy Brassica rapa population. Mol. Ecol. 17: 13871395 CrossRef
Weis, AE, Kossler, TM (2004) Genetic variation in flowering time induces phenological assortative mating: quantitative genetic methods applied to Brassica rapa. Am. J. Bot. 91: 825836 CrossRef
Willenborg CJ (2009) Characterizing the factors contributing to pollen-mediated gene flow between cropped and volunteer spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Ph.D. Thesis, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Willenborg, CJ, Luschei, EC, Brûlé-Babel, AL, Van Acker, RC (2009) Flowering phenology and synchrony between volunteer and cropped spring wheat: Implications for pollen-mediated gene flow. Crop Sci. 49: 10291039 CrossRef