Contents


Masumeh Ziaee

**1** 

**Prospects for Transgenic** 

 **and Molecular Breeding** 

**Canola (***Brassica napus* **L.)** 

Anthony O. Ananga1, Ernst Cebert2, Joel W. Ochieng3,

Suresh Kumar2, Devaiah Kambiranda4, Hemanth Vasanthaiah4,

Violetka Tsolova1, Zachary Senwo2, Koffi Konan5 and Felicia N. Anike6

Oilseed rape has become a major crop in North America, with cropland dedicated to rapeseed production increasing from 4,391,660 ha in 2001 to 7,103,725 ha in 2010 in both U.S.A. and Canada (Canola Connection, 2011; National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2011). Most of these are cultivated in spring in the Canadian Prairie Provinces and the northern

Canola is cultivated both during winter and spring seasons in the United States and this exposes the crop to winter kill, frost, and high temperatures, during the reproductive period. The temperatures during winter and spring are known to influence all the crucial steps of the reproductive cycle including gametogenesis, pollination, fertilization and embryogenesis (Angadi, 2000). Winter rapeseed has been successfully grown in the Pacific Northwest, southern Great Plains, Midwest, and southeast regions of the USA. The hardiest cultivars will routinely survive winters in the north east of USA but survival is inconsistent further south (Rife *et al.,* 2001). Winter-grown canola (*Brassica napus* L.) production is limited mostly by frost and winter-kill in the southern canola-growing regions of the United States (Singh *et al.,* 2008). For instance, the late freeze in 2007 resulted in significant damage to most of the winter canola cultivars at the National Winter Canola Variety Trials in Alabama, U.S. (Cebert and Rufina, 2007). Winter hardiness and freezing tolerance are a major concern for improving production

consistency in many regions of the canola growing countries.

*5Department of Food and Animal Sciences, Food Biotechnology Laboratory,* 

*Alabama A&M University, Normal, USA* 

<sup>1</sup>*CESTA, Center for Viticulture and Small Fruit Research, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, USA 2Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Alabama A&M University, Normal, USA 3Faculties of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya 4Plant Biotechnology Laboratory, College of Agriculture, Florida A & M University, Tallahassee, USA*

*6Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Design, North Carolina A&T State University* 

**1. Introduction** 

*Greensboro, USA*

Great Plains of the USA.

**for Cold Tolerance in** 
