Inheritance of earliness, height, and leaf number in crosses of early maturing rapeseed

Abstract

A dwarf early Brassica napus line (D-001), derived from crosses with Diplotaxis muralis, was crossed to two B. napus cultivars, 'Regent' and 'Pivot' to study the inheritance of earliness (days to bud, days to first flower, and days to maturity), height, and leaf number. Spaced plants of P1, P2, F1, F2, BC1, and BC2 generations for both crosses were grown in a completely randomized design at two locations in Manitoba in 1984. Results of means analyses indicated that additive gene action predominated for all traits for both crosses and both locations. In addition, dominance gene action was found to influence days to first flower, days to maturity, and leaf number for the D-001 × 'Regent' cross and all traits for the D-001 × 'Pivot' cross. Nonallelic interactions were nonsignificant in all cases. Genotype × environment interactions were not significant for all traits except height. Variance analyses indicated a predominance of additive gene action. Broad sense heritabilities for phenological traits ranged fr...