Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-18T16:51:21.096Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Comparison of the crop species Brassica napus and wild B. rapa: characteristics relevant for building up a persistent seed bank in the soil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 June 2013

Tom J. de Jong ,
Maria Tudela Isanta  and
Elze Hesse
Tom J. de Jong*
Affiliation:
Institute of Biology, Leiden University, PO Box 9505, 2300 RALeiden, The Netherlands
Maria Tudela Isanta
Affiliation:
Institute of Biology, Leiden University, PO Box 9505, 2300 RALeiden, The Netherlands
Elze Hesse
Affiliation:
Institute of Biology, Leiden University, PO Box 9505, 2300 RALeiden, The Netherlands
*
*Correspondence Fax: +31-71-5274900E-mail: t.j.de.jong@biology.leidenuniv.nl
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Can seed characters be used for predicting the presence of a persistent seed bank in the field? We address this question using ten cultivars of the crop Brassica napus, ten feral B. napus accessions originating from seeds collected in the field and nine accessions of the closely related ruderal species Brassica rapa. When buried for a year in the field, seeds of the wild B. rapa displayed, as expected, much higher survival fractions than those of domesticated B. napus at two different locations in The Netherlands. Compared to B. napus, B. rapa produces relatively small seeds with high levels of aliphatic glucosinolates and a thick seed coat. However, within each species none of these characters correlated with seed survival in the soil. At low temperatures, B. rapa seeds had lower and more variable germination fractions than those of B. napus; a small fraction (4.6%) of the B. rapa seeds showed primary dormancy. Rather surprisingly, B. napus displayed genetic differences in germination at low temperature, and germination fractions at 5°C correlated negatively with seed survival in the soil. Our comparisons between and within the two species suggest that foregoing germination at low temperatures is an important character for developing a persistent seed bank. We discuss our results in light of environmental risk assessment of genetically modified B. napus.

Keywords

Brassica napusBrassica rapadormancygenetic modificationgerminationtemperature
Type
Research paper
Information
Seed Science Research , Volume 23 , Issue 3 , September 2013 , pp. 169 - 179
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adler, L.D., Wikler, K., Wyndham, F.S., Kinder, C.R. and Schmitt, J. (1993) Potential for persistence of genes escaped from canola: germination cues in crop, wild, and crop-wild hybrid Brassica rapa. Functional Ecology 7, 736–745.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, M.S. and de Vicente, M.C. (2010) Gene flow between crops and their wild relatives. Baltimore MA, Johns Hopkins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baskin, C.C. and Baskin, J.M. (2001) Seeds; ecology, biogeography, and evolution of dormancy and germination. San Diego, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Cirujeda, A., Recasens, J. and Taberner, A. (2006) Dormancy cycle and viability of buried seeds of Papaver rhoeas. Weed Research 46, 327–334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clossais-Besnard, H. and Larher, F. (1991) Physiological role of glucosinolates in Brassica napus; concentration and distribution pattern of glucosinolates among plant organs during a complete life cycle. Journal of Science Food and Agriculture 56, 25–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
D'Hertefeldt, T., Jørgensen, R.B. and Pettersson, L.B. (2008) Long-term persistence of GM oilseed rape in the seedbank. Biology Letters 4, 314–317.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
EFSA (2010) Guidance on the environmental risk assessment of genetically modified plants. EFSA Journal 8, 1879.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gardarin, A., Durr, C., Mannino, M.R., Busset, H. and Colbach, N. (2010) Seed mortality in the soil is related to seed coat thickness. Seed Science Research 20, 243–256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gruber, S., Pekrun, C. and Claupein, W. (2004) Seed persistence of oilseed rape (Brassica napus), variation in transgenic and conventionally bred cultivars. Journal of Agricultural Science 142, 29–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gulden, R.H., Warwick, S.I. and Thomas, A.G. (2008) The biology of Canadian weeds. 137. Brassica napus L. and B. rapa L. Canadian Journal of Plant Science 88, 951–996.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hails, R.S., Rees, M., Kohn, D.D. and Crawley, M.J. (1997) Burial and seed survival in Brassica napus subsp. oleifera and Sinapis arvensis; a comparison of transgenic and non-transgenic lines of the crop. Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences 264, 1–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harper, J.L. (1977) Population biology of plants. London, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Hendry, G.A.F., Thompson, K., Edwards, E. and Thorpe, P.C. (1994) Seed persistence, a correlation between seed longevity and ortho-dihydroxyphenol concentration. Functional Ecology 8, 658–664.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirkegard, J.A., Sarwar, M., Wong, P.T.W., Mead, A., Howe, G. and Newell, M. (2000) Field studies on the biofumigation of take-all by Brassica crops. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 51, 445–456.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Landbo, L. and Jørgensen, J.B. (1997) Seed germination in weedy Brassica campestris and its hybrids with B. napus: implications for risk assessment of transgenic oilseed rape. Euphytica 97, 209–216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luijten, S.H. and de Jong, T.J. (2010) A baseline study of the distribution and morphology of Brassica napus L. and Brassica rapa L. in the Netherlands COGEM Report 2010-03. Available atwww.cogem.net (accessed accessed 17 May 2013).Google Scholar
Lutman, P.J.W., Freeman, S.E. and Pekrun, C. (2003) The long-term persistence of seeds of oilseed rape (Brassica napus) in arable fields. Journal of Agricultural Science 141, 231–240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lutman, P.J.W., Berry, K., Payne, R.W., Simpson, E., Sweet, J.B., Champion, G.T., May, M.J., Wightman, P., Walker, K. and Lainsbury, M. (2005) Persistence of seed from crops of conventional and herbicide tolerant oilseed rape (Brassica napus). Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences 272, 1909–1915.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marshall, B. and Squire, G.R. (1996) Non-linearity in rate–temperature relations of germination in oilseed rape. Journal of Experimental Botany 47, 1369–1375.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Naeem, M.S., Liu, D., Raziuddin, R., Wan, G.L., Tang, G.X. and Zhou, W.J. (2009) Seed dormancy and viability. pp. 151–176in Gupta, S.K. (Ed.) Biology and breeding of crucifers. Boca Raton, CRC Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pekrun, C., Lutman, P.J.W. and Baeumer, K. (1997) Induction of secondary dormancy in rape seeds (Brassica napus L.) by prolonged imbibition of water stress or oxygen deficiency in darkness. European Journal of Agronomy 6, 245–255.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pekrun, C., Hewitt, J.D.J. and Lutman, P.J.W. (1998) Cultural control of volunteer oilseed rape (Brassica napus). Journal of Agricultural Science 130, 155–163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pons, T.L. (1991) Induction of dark dormancy in seeds: its importance for the seed bank in the soil. Functional Ecology 5, 669–675.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schatzki, J., Allam, M., Klöppel, C., Nagel, M., Börner, A. and Möllers, C. (2013) Genetic variation for secondary seed dormancy and seed longevity in a set of black-seeded European winter oilseed rape cultivars. Plant Breeding 132, 174–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tamis, W.L.M., van der Meijden, R., Runhaar, J., Bekker, R.M., Ozinga, W.A., Ode, B. and Hoste, I. (2003) Standaardlijst Nederlandse Flora 2003. Available athttp://www.floron.nl (accessed accessed 17 May 2013).Google Scholar
Thompson, K., Bakker, J.P., Bekker, R.M. and Hodgson, J.P. (1998) Ecological correlates of seed persistence in soil in the north-west European flora. Journal of Ecology 86, 163–169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, K., Cerlani, R.M., Bakker, J.P.andBekker, R.M. (2003) Are seed dormancy and persistence in soil related? Seed Science Research 13, 97–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
U, N. (1935) Genome analysis in Brassica with special reference to the experimental formation of B. napus and peculiar mode of fertilization. Japanese Journal of Botany 7, 389–452.Google Scholar
van Dam, N.M., Witjes, L. and Svatos, A. (2004) Interactions between aboveground and belowground induction of glucosinolates in two wild Brassica species. New Phytologist 161, 801–810.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wagner, M. and Mitschunas, N. (2008) Fungal effects on seed bank persistence and potential applications in weed biocontrol: a review. Basic and Applied Ecology 9, 191–203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar