Genetic analysis of Brassica carinata

Brassica carinata is being actively pursued as a new industrial oil crop platform for the Canadian Prairies. A genetic assessment of B. carinata was performed to elucidate its evolutionary origins and create a genetic map to assist in locating genes and traits of interest that would help in marker-assisted breeding. First, genetic analysis using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, previously tested on B. juncea and B. napus, was performed, to examine the genetic diversity of 37 B. carinata lines. SSR analysis revealed world accessions were more diverse than lines conditioned to grow in the prairies. Diversity analysis revealed that the parental lines of a double haploid (DH) population, 179 and 345, obtained from the John Innes Centre (JIC), were among the more genetically diverse lines, supporting the use of this population for linkage mapping. Genetic markers created from 3’ targeted SNP discovery between 179 and 345, were tested on the DH population resulting in the generation of a B. carinata genetic linkage map essentially with no prior sequence data knowledge. This genetic map contained 341 SNP and 86 SSR loci identifying eight linkage groups belonging to the B genome, nine belonging to the C genome and two unidentified groups spanning 2041 cM. Comparative mapping of polymorphic markers identified in the amphidiploid B. carinata indicated the orientation of B and C genomes coincide with that of other Brassica species, and the two genomes have remained essentially unaltered, with no major chromosomal rearrangements since the formation of B. carinata. A lesser number of polymorphic markers were detected in the C genome, which suggested the B genome is more genetically diverse in B. carinata. Limited field trials of the 179 x 345 DH population were performed during the 2011 and 2012 growing seasons. Preliminary quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for agronomic traits including flowering time (FT), plant height (PH), and seed quality were identified