Temporal patterns of maternal, cytoplasmic and embryo genetic effects for thousand-seed weight and oil content in F1 hybrid rapeseed (Brassica napus L.)

The analysis of temporal patterns of genetic effects for thousand-seed weight (TSW) and oil content (OC) in rapeseed was conducted at five different seed development times using unconditional and conditional genetic models for diploid seed quantitative traits. Phenotypic means among generations and seed development times in 2 different years revealed considerable variation for both TSW and OC. The expression of genes from diploid embryo, cytoplasmic and maternal plant genetic systems were all found to be important for the F1 generation, with maternal effects playing a more prominent role for both traits at most times. The conditional analysis indicated that the stage-specific gene expression from the maternal plant was influenced by environment. Higher magnitudes of additive and cytoplasmic effects were observed for both traits. Narrow-sense heritability was high for both traits at all developmental times with maternal heritability being more prominent at most times. Genetic correlations between TSW and OC were mostly negative over developmental times.