Genetic Discovery Offers Bio-solution to Severe Canola Crop Losses

An international team led by researchers from the University of Calgary (UC) has made a genetic discovery that offers solution to canola's "green seed problem." The researchers have uncovered a plant gene regulatory network that could be genetically enhanced to prevent green seeds from occurring in mature canola.

According to team leader Marcus Samuel, every year, light frost damages crop quality and causes severe canola losses. Although frost does not kill the plants, it fixes the green color in the seeds, affecting oil quality and producing unpleasant flavor and odor, and reducing the oil's shelf life. The research team investigated the de-greening process using a mutant strain of Arabidopsis that produces mature green seeds, and performed genetic analyses that uncovered a pathway required for seed development and removal of unwanted chlorophyll during seed maturation. They found that a protein called ABI3 regulated expression of a gene controlling chlorophyll degradation and showed that a higher expression of ABI3 in Arabidopsis led to seeds that were able to de-green normally to produce mature brown-black seeds, despite harsh cold treatments.

For more about this research, read the news release at http://www.ucalgary.ca/utoday/issue/2013-09-24/discovery-offers-bio-solution-severe-canola-crop-losses.