Towards the generation of polycarpic perennial rapeseeds

Perennial crops are increasingly recognized as a sustainable agricultural solution that provides significant advantages over annual crops, including reduced seed input and management cost, improved agronomic traits and soil health, and enhanced resource use efficiency. The current strategies for breeding perennial crops include traditional selection methods, interspecific hybridization, and de novo domestication using genome-editing technologies. A promising new approach involves leveraging perennial genes from wild relatives to develop these crops. In the past twenty years, researchers have successfully identified the genes responsible for polycarpic flowering behaviors in the Brassicaceae family. In this Perspective, we outline a roadmap for generating perennial Brassica napus (rapeseed) based on these findings. We believe that further investigation into the genetic mechanisms underlying perennial syndrome is crucial for enhancing the environmental benefits of perennial crops, which will ultimately support sustainable agricultural practices.