Suitability of A European Nuclear Collection of Brassica oleracea L. Landraces to Grow at High Temperatures

Statistical models predict that global warming will have a negative impact in crop yields in the next decades. Especially vulnerable are winter crops such as kales or cabbages (Brassica oleracea L.). We evaluated the impact of high temperatures in morphological and biochemical traits of a B. oleracea core collection during early development. When grown at 30 °C, plants showed a reduction in chlorophyll content, early vigour and biomass compared with values observed on plants grown at 20 °C. Likewise, the total content of glucosinolates shows a reduction at high temperatures. The alboglabra group showed the best general performance at 30 °C for both morphological traits and glucosinolate content. Based on a cluster analysis, we selected four populations (MBG0072, MBG0464, MBG0535 and HRIGRU5555) as the most promising to be used in further breeding programs for heat tolerance.