The development and improvement of an in vitro androgenesis of oilseed rape has allowed to obtain doubled haploid (DH) populations on a large scale. It has become possible to use DH lines in a genetic analysis of quantitative traits. Among the other benefits of DHs, homozygous state allowed to use them in a series of experiments aiming at the efficient selection of desired genotypes and their examination for adaptation in various environments. This is a review of our earlier studies which have confirmed numerous possibilities of using winter oilseed rape DH lines in a statistical analysis. Populations of DHs were used for: estimation of genetic parameters, transgression effects as well as a general and specific combining ability, genetic variation in DH populations or effects of the cross direction. In this paper, possibilities of a comprehensive multidirectional assessment of DHs lines of oilseed rape through the application of uni-and multivariate methods of quantitative genetics and mathematical methods are also presented.

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Here we present a study on the genetic effects of agronomic and seed quality traits in double haploid (DH) populations, which were developed by microspore culture from reciprocal F 1 hybrids produced between cultivar Californium and DH W-15. Each of the populations consisted of 25 DH lines. The field experiments were conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications during three growing seasons. Field observations were recorded on seed yield and its structure: the number of branches and pods per plant, the number of seeds per pod, the 1 000 seed weight, the content of fat in the seeds, and three unsaturated fatty acids (oleic, linoleic, linolenic) in the seed oil. In order to investigate the influence of cross direction on the studied traits, parental effects were evaluated on the basis of differences between reciprocal DH populations. The maternal effect was revealed for the number of seeds per pod and the effect of the paternal form on linolenic acid content. The occurrence of transgression effects also depended on the direction of crossing and this was particularly noticeable in terms of the number of seeds per pod. The use of multivariate statistical methods allowed for the simultaneous characterization and grouping of tested lines in terms of several traits. Graphic images of the distribution of DH lines in the space of the two first canonical variates showed a great variation between the two reciprocal populations, both in terms of yield and its components, as well as fat and those unsaturated fatty acids.