Pollen-mediated gene flow between glyphosate-resistant Brassica napus canola and B. juncea and B. carinata mustard crops under large-scale field conditions in Saskatchewan

Abstract

Séguin-Swartz, G., Beckie, H. J., Warwick, S. I., Roslinsky, V., Nettleton, J. A., Johnson, E. N. and Falk, K. C. 2013. Pollen-mediated gene flow between glyphosate-resistant Brassica napus canola and B. juncea and B. carinata mustard crops under large-scale field conditions in Saskatchewan. Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 1083–1087. A Saskatchewan study examined hybridization between two mustard (Brassica juncea and B. carinata) crops that were either adjacent to a glyphosate-resistant canola (B. napus) crop or separated by a 5-m strip. Overall, field hybridization levels, detected with glyphosate resistance and species-specific AFLP markers, were low: 0.024% and up to 400 m in the adjacent B. juncea field and 0.013% (up to 350 m) in the separated field, and 0.005% (up to 150 m) in the adjacent B. carinata field and 0.002% (up to 65 m) in the separated field. Based on fitness information under controlled conditions, the fertility of hybrid plants is expected to be low.