Improvements of the Brassica Crops by Transfer of Genes from Alien Species Via Somatic Hybridization

Abstract

The oilseed Brassica crops have during the last decade increased in importance. For production of vegetable oils it is the third most important oil source after soybean and palm (1). The oil from the different Brassica crops is used both for consumption and for technical purposes. Although the Brassica crops belong to some of the earliest domesticated plants they have a rather narrow genetic background, due to breeding from a few ancestors to meet the demands of the quality requirements for the oil and the meal. A widening of the genepool within these crops would, thus, be of great practical importance. The improvements needed are several different traditional breeding goals, such as cold and drought tolerance as well as disease resistance. Furthermore, large efforts in trying to modify the oilcomposition in these crops have also recently started (2). The fatty acids produced by the oil seed crops have potentials of several different kinds and can be used as fuels, lubricants, water repellents, plasticizers, waxes and surface active agents. With such a wide range of different traits to improve there is a need to broaden the genetic variation in the crops and thus genetic engineering, including somatic hybridization, has been suggested as potential tools.