Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

The crop spring canola (also known as rapeseed) contributes about $14 billion annually to the economy of thiscountry. The narrow genetic diversity (GD) in this crop species is a major concern to researchers and plantbreeders for further increasing its productivity. Presence of adequate GD in a crop is also needed for reducingthe vulnerability of the crop to insect pests and diseases as well as other changes in global climatic conditions.The crop species canola originated in nature from crosses between a cauliflower/cabbage type plant species anda turnip type plant species; and the narrow GD in this crop species is apparently due to a genetic bottleneckoccurred during its evolution in nature. Compared to canola, wider GD is present in its two progenitor speciesas well as in the other variants of this species, e.g. rutabaga, fodder rape, European winter canola, Chinesesemi-winter rapeseed, etc. To date, limited efforts have been made for the improvement of Canadian springcanola through the use of European winter canola; however, no effort has been made to explore the use ofmany of the other exotic germplasm including its parental species. The proposed research will explore the GDin different exotic materials for the improvement of this crop. In the short-term, the proposed research willinvestigate the GD in different turnip, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, rutabaga, Chinese semi-winter rapeseed,etc. type plant species for the improvement of Canadian canola in terms of improved agronomy and increasedproductivity, identify the chromosome region(s) contributing to increased productivity, as well as extend ourknowledge on the relative value of these materials for efficient and rational utilization in the breedingprograms. The research results from this project can be applied for the development of disease resistant highyielding hybrid canola cultivars for the Canadian prairie.