The frequency of hybridisation between
Brassica napus L. and
Raphanus raphanistrum L. under agronomic conditions was assessed in field experiments, where
R. raphanistrum were randomly planted at two different densities into large plots of
B. napus. An acetolacate synthase (ALS)-inhibiting herbicide-resistant trait was used to detect potential hybrid individuals. No hybrids
were detected amongst 25,000 seedlings grown from seed collected from
R. raphanistrum plants. Two hybrids were obtained from more than 52-million
B. napus seedlings. Both hybrids were characterised as amphidiploids (AACCRrRr, 2n = 56) and were fertile. The frequency of hybridisation
into
B. napus in this experiment using male-fertile
B. napus was 4 × 10
–8.
Keywords Brassica napus - Raphanus raphanistrum - Hybridisation rate - Agronomic conditions
Received: 31 August 2000 / Accepted: 23 January 2001