Ertragsleistung, Standorteignung und Qualitatseigenschaften von Sareptasenf (Brassica juncea L. Czern.)

Yield and Qualitative Characteristics of Indian Mustard ( Brassica juncea L. Czern.)
Indian mustard is required as raw material for the production of mustard. In field trials, farm trials and processing tests during several years evidence could be furnished, that the cultivation of the up to now foreign crop is possible on suitable sites in central Germany. On loess soils (soil value number more than 50) in regions with milder climatic conditions the grain yields attained in using of intensive specific cultivation methods on an average of about 30 dt/hectare. The results of the field trials confirmed by average yields of 14 16 dt/hectare in agricultural practice. The best farms attained grain yields up to 25 dt/hectare. With regard to raw material with a content of allyl mustard oil of more than 1.00 % also the demands of the food processing industry could be fulfilled by all lots produced on farms (the attained content of allyl mustard oil amounted to 1.00 1.40 %).
Climatic factors but also the observance of correct cultivation methods influence first of all the processing quality.     

Assessment of transgene escape from Brassica rapa (B. campestris) into B. nigra or Sinapis arvensis

The possibility of gene transfer between Brassica rapa and the two weedy species B. nigra and Sinapis arvensis was evaluated with the special concern on transgene escape from B. rapa to these two weedy species. B. rapa cultivar Tobin was reciprocally crossed to five and four strains of B. nigra and S. arvensis, respectively, using controlled cross. A single interspecific hybrid was obtained from the cross B. rapa×B. nigra, but no other cross was successful. The fertility of this hybrid on open pollination, selfing and backcrosses was investigated. The data of the present study and the information available to date indicate that gene transfer between B. rapa and B. nigra is possible. The chance of transgene escape from B. rapa to B. nigra depends essentially on whether natural cross can occur between these two species. Gene transfer between B. rapa and S. arvensis is at the most difficult, whereas trans-gene escape directly from B. rapa to S. arvensis appears very unlikely.     

Heterosis breeding in Indian mustard (Brassica juncea L. Czern & Coss): Analysis of component characters contributing to heterosis for yield

Summary Divergence of 25 accessions of Brassica juncea of Indian, CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States, former USSR) and synthetic origin was studied by D² analysis. On the basis of divergence, ten accessions were selected and crossed in a diallel fashion without reciprocals to study the combining ability and heterosis. None of the accessions was found to be a good general combiner for all the nine quantitative characters that were studied. Significant heterosis over better parent for single plant yield was recorded in CIS x Indian and synthetic x CIS crosses (5 each) followed by Indian x synthetic types (3). The analysis of component characters showed that the mean performance of the majority of hybrids was intermediate for five out of six yield attributing traits, thus exhibiting dominance or partial dominance effect. To estimate the contribution of such yield attributing traits towards heterosis for yield, a comparison was made among three parameters viz. heterosis over mid parent (MP), better parent (BP) and better yielding parent (BYP) of the concerned hybrid. It was observed that estimation of heterosis from BYP was a more accurate method to determine the contribution of component characters towards yield heterosis than the analysis based on MP and BP. From the component character analysis, it was concluded that characters like number of primary and secondary branches, number of siliqua per plant and siliqua density contributed significantly towards heterosis in yield. Plot level yield trials of two selected hybrids (Skorospieka II x RH30 and Donskaja IV x Varuna) over two growing seasons revealed 29.4 to 91.8% heterosis over BYP.     

Path Analysis of Important Growth Functions of Indian Mustard (Brassica juncea L. Czern and Coss)

Field experiment conducted at the Viswavidyalaya Farm during the winter seasons of 1980—81 to 1983—84 to study the effects of major six productive functions viz. number of inflorescence bearing primary branches, number of inflorescence bearing secondary branches, leaf area indices at flowering, number of seeds/siliqua, number of siliqua/m² and test weight of grains on the grain yields of eight elite varieties of Indian mustard ( Brassica juncea L. Czern and Coss) when sown on three different times revealed that correlations between them were close and positive in all the varieties. Path analysis of the data, further, showed that except the inflorescence bearing primary branches and the seeds/siliqua all other attributes showed high direct influences on grain yield; the maximum direct influence was obtained from number of siliqua/m².     

Characterization of different cytoplasmic male sterility systems in Indian mustard (Brassica juncea L. Czern & Coss)

Six cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) systems, viz. moricandia, ogura, oxyrrhina, siifolia, tournefortii and trachystoma of Indian mustard (Brassica juncea L.) were characterized for agronomic and floral characteristics. Introgression of alien cytoplasm caused alterations in different floral traits in ogura, siifolia, tournefortii and trachystoma CMS systems. Varied response to different genetic backgrounds of CMS lines indicated the presence of cytoplasmic–nuclear interaction in alteration of floral traits. On the basis of floral characteristics, CMS systems could be grouped into distinct classes. Siifolia, tournefortii and trachystoma CMS lines had narrow petals, while moricandia, ogura and oxyrrhina had wider petals, which were distinguishable on the basis of visual observations. The ratio between length and width of petals were >2.0 in wide petal group but <2.0 in narrow petal group. Further, the relative position of anther and stigma, which was estimated as the ratio between stamen and style length could differentiate the CMS systems. Stamens were longer than styles in oxyrrhina, equal in moricandia and shorter in ogura, siifolia, tournefortii and trachystoma male sterile lines. Non‐viable pollen grains were present in moricandia and oxyrrhina systems, but absent in other systems. In tournefortii and trachystoma, few flowers showed petaloid corolla. All male sterile lines, except trachystoma, which showed crooked siliqua formation were at par with their respective maintainers for flower initiation, plant height, primary branches, seeds per siliqua, seed yield, harvest index, oil and protein content. In general, flower senescence and maturity occurred earlier in male sterile lines than in their respective maintainer lines.     

Overwintering of genetically modified sugar beet, Beta vulgaris L. subsp. vulgaris, as a source for dispersal of transgenic pollen

The potential impact of transgenic crops on community ecology will depend on the distribution and establishment of the new transgenic traits, on the sexual transfer of their new genes to the environment (Bartsch &; Pohl-Orf, 1996) and on the potential ecological impact of the transgenic trait. Flowering and pollen dispersal is important for outcrossing of the genetically engineered trait. For a biennial plant, like the cultivars of Beta vulgaris L., overwintering is normally necessary to become generative and to produce pollen and seeds (Abe et al., 1997), which usually does not happen with sugar beet as a field crop harvested in autumn (Longden 1989). The starting point for the project was a transgenic sugar beet, Beta vulgaris L. subsp. vulgaris (Lange et al., 1998), with rhizomania and herbicide ( Basta®, Liberty®) resistance. Cold tolerance is one of the most important factors for survival of sugar beet in Central- and North-Europe. Among other ways, spreading of transgenic traits into weed beet (Boudry et al., 1993) or wild beet can occur if genetically engineered – biennial – plants survive the winter, flower in spring and spread their pollen. Field experiments were performed with transgenic breeding lines and their hybrids, transgenic and non-transgenic hybrids with Swiss chard and three conventional beet cultivars to evaluate winter survival rates at seven different field sites. We could show that survival of sugar beet – transgenic as well as conventional ones – in Germany and at the Dutch border is possible. Survival rates were well correlated with temperature data and were unexpectedly high. Differences between sugar beet hybrids and breeding lines could be detected but not within different breeding lines or hybrids. There were no differences detectable between transgenic and non-transgenic plants. The data are crucial for the risk assessment of the release of transgenic sugar beet and are the basis for further experiments towards outcrossing and establishment.     

Influence of cyto‐sterility sources of female line on seed quality of Indian mustard (Brassica juncea L. Czern & Coss.) in relation to storage period

Effect of cyto‐sterility sources on morphology and yield attributes in F₁ has well been studied in different crops, but not on the seed quality of hybrid. Six cytoplasmic male sterile (CMS) lines, viz. Ogura, Siifolia, Erucoides, Moricandia, Tournefortii and Oxyrrhina, which represent six different sources of CMS, were pollinated by a single maintainer line (‘Pusa Bold’) to check whether CMS sources have any marked effect on seed quality. Seeds were collected in 2007–2008 (rabi season: October–April) from CMS maintenance plot and kept in ambient storage for next 3 years. The results indicated that CMS/cyto‐sterility sources influenced the seed quality parameters in fresh seed as well as after storage. Per cent germination (as means over the storage period) was recorded up to 89.00, 88.25 and 87.88 in Moricandia, Ogura and Oxyrrhina systems, respectively, and it was significantly different from Tournefortii and ‘Pusa Bold’ (70.13 and 74.38, respectively). The CMS sources also had pronounced effect on other seed quality traits, viz. root and shoot length and seedling dry matter, and Ogura and Moricandia (green) performed better.