Perspectives for integrated insect pest protection in oilseed rape breeding

Abstract

In the past, breeding for incorporation of insect pest resistance or tolerance into cultivars for use in integrated pest management schemes in oilseed rape/canola (Brassica napus) production has hardly ever been approached. This has been largely due to the broad availability of insecticides and the complexity of dealing with high-throughput phenotyping of insect performance and plant damage parameters. However, recent changes in the political framework in many countries demand future sustainable crop protection which makes breeding approaches for crop protection as a measure for pest insect control attractive again. At the same time, new camera-based tracking technologies, new knowledge-based genomic technologies and new scientific insights into the ecology of insect–Brassica interactions are becoming available. Here we discuss and prioritise promising breeding strategies and direct and indirect breeding targets, and their time-perspective for future realisation in integrated insect pest protection of oilseed rape. In conclusion, researchers and oilseed rape breeders can nowadays benefit from an array of new technologies which in combination will accelerate the development of improved oilseed rape cultivars with multiple insect pest resistances/tolerances in the near future.

Comprehensive evaluation of high-oleic rapeseed (Brassica napus) based on quality, resistance, and yield traits: A new method for rapid identification of high-oleic acid rapeseed germplasm

“…Germplasm resources are an important basis for biological research and genetic breeding of oilseed rape [ 17 ]. Varieties which are developed and evaluated in local conditions are often better suited to local natural or cultivation conditions than foreign varieties and have excellent traits or genes to adapt to the local environment [ 18 ].…”

Genome-Wide Identification of Brassica napus PEN1-LIKE Genes and Their Expression Profiling in Insect-Susceptible and Resistant Cultivars

“…At present, no monogenic resistance against any insect pest has been reported in oilseed rape, and no cultivars could show resistance against any of the commercially important insect pests [ 29 ]. Additionally, the primary germplasm pool of Brassica napus is thought to lack resistances to many insect pests [ 5 ]. Therefore, the research on insect resistance genes in Brassica napus remains to be explored at home and abroad.…”

“…However, most of the studies were about the effects of glucosinolates [ 32 , 33 ]. The effects of other secondary metabolites in the Brassicaceae are scarce [ 34 ], which makes modifying secondary metabolites for insect resistance a breeding target with a medium- to long-term perspective [ 5 ].…”

“…At present, insect pests are one of the major problems affecting rapeseed yield [ 4 ]. Oilseed rape is susceptible to many fungal diseases and insect pests [ 5 ]. A global survey among 22 experts from 10 countries on major biotic constrains of oilseed rape production in 2019 revealed 37 insect pests that were present in oilseed rape or mustard since 2016 [ 6 ].…”

A protocol for increased throughput phenotyping of plant resistance to the pollen beetle

“…11,13,17 In addition, high-throughput phenotyping also suffers from constraints related to the rearing of insects in the laboratory (complex or even impossible for insects that have obligatory diapause in their life cycle) or their sampling in the field (subject to regional, seasonal and year-to-year variations in insect presence), and the fact that plant-insect interactions are highly dependent on the plant's phenological stage or the insect's physiological status. 18,19 In this study, we present a new phenotyping protocol to quantity plant resistance against the pollen beetle in large plant populations. The pollen beetle (Brassicogethes aeneus F. syn.…”