Gene expression profiles associated with intersubgenomic heterosis in Brassica napus

In order to understand the genetic mechanism of heterosis that has been observed in hybrids between Brassica napus and partial new-type B. napus which had exotic genome components from relative species, this study focused on the difference in gene expression patterns among partial new-typed B. napus lines, B. napus cultivars and their hybrids using the cDNA amplified fragment length polymorphism technique (cDNA-AFLP) technique. First, three partial new-type B. napus lines were compared with their original parents. One new line contained the exotic genomic components from B. rapa, and the other two new lines were obtained by the introgression of genomic components from B. rapa and B. carinata. The experimental results showed that the introgression of A(r) and C(c) genome components from B. rapa and B. carinata led to considerable differences in the gene expression profiles of the partial new-type lines when compared with their parents. Secondly, the gene expression profiles of nine cross-combinations between three partial new-type lines and three B. napus cultivars were compared. Twenty transcript-derived fragments (TDFs) associated with intersubgenomic heterosis were randomly selected and converted into PCR-based molecular markers. Some of them were mapped in the confidence intervals of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for yield and yield-related traits in three segregative populations of B. napus. These results suggested that a proportion of the heterosis-associated TDFs were really responsible for fluctuating seed yield in rapeseed.