Genetic divergence between feral populations of rape and varieties Brassica napus L.

Abstract

The study assessed the genetic diversity of commercial varieties and feral populations of oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) grown in the Republic of Belarus according to the genotyping data of 7 microsatellite loci – Na12D08, Ol12D04-1, Ol12D04-2, Ra2A05, Na10H03, Na14H11, Ol11B05. The following parameters were calculated: the average number of alleles per locus, the effective number of alleles, the levels of expected and observed heterozygosity, % of polymorphic loci. The results indicate a greater genetic diversity in feral oilseed rape populations. According to the cluster analysis, one feral population fell into a cluster of commercial varieties and demonstrated similarities with the variety Atora, which indicates its recent wildness and the preservation of the genetic characteristics inherent in cultivated varieties. The variety Mercedes was clustered together with samples of feral populations, which may indicate its hybrid origin. An analysis of the structure of the genotype distribution in the Structure software showed the division into three clusters – commercial varieties, feral populations and samples of B. rapa. The established genetic divergence between feral populations and commercial varieties indicates that feral oilseed rape is able to maintain persistent populations inBelarus. In practice, this should be taken into account while assessing the environmental risk when transgenic rape is released into the environment. When cultivating transgenic rapeseed, special attention should be paid to measures to prevent the occurrence of its free-growing populations.