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Updated: May 6, 2026

An Efficient Method for the Isolation of Highly Purified RNA from Seeds for Use in Quantitative Transcriptome Analysis
Published on: January 11, 2017
Environmental variation for outcrossing rate in rapeseed (Brassica napus)
H C Becker1, C Damgaard, B Karlsson
1Department of Plant Breeding, The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, S-26831, Svalöv, Sweden.
Abstract:
Rapeseed (Brassica napus) is a predominantly selfpollinated crop with about one-third outcrossing. The outcrossing rate may be influenced by environmental factors, and hence changes in the heterozygosity level of a variety may occur during multiplication. In an investigation on environmental variation in outcrossing, we estimated the outcrossing rate in the Swedish spring rapeseed cv 'Topas' by isozyme analysis and found that outcrossing varied from 12% to 47% over five locations in Sweden, Denmark and Germany. Among flowers at different positions on the same plant, average outcrossing varied from 11% at the top to 39% at the bottom of the plant. In conclusion, environmental factors can greatly influence the outcrossing rate in rapeseed, and an investigation therefore merit further studies.
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