ABSTRACT
Brassica oilseeds are source for 12% of world’s edible vegetable oil production. Over the years, emphasis has been laid on achieving yield stability with improved seed and oil quality. Fatty acid (FA) profile of “canola” is considered ideal for nutrition as phytosterols lower the LDL-cholesterol levels. Tocopherols are lipid-soluble antioxidants essential to humans. High phosphate with low phytate levels, and good quality protein are desired in seed meal. The ever increasing demand to improve present yield and quality standards poses a challenge for the breeders. The advent of molecular breeding approaches has helped to explore the variation in gene pools and combine it with conventional breeding methods. Study of genome wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) opens the field of comparative genetic mapping. Detection of quantitative trait loci (QTL) in populations helps to locate the linkage groups between genomes. Potential molecular markers can be used for selection and cloning of important genes for desired trait(s). In Brassica, expressed sequence tags (ESTs) are being used for deployment of micro-array platforms for high-throughput transcriptome analysis. The ribonulceic acid interference (RNAi) based post transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) helps toward inhibiting the genes ameliorating the FA pathways. The use of seed specific antisense technology has brought the selective modulation of key enzyme activities in the developing seed, while keeping the rest of the genetic background of the plant intact. This chapter aims to outline the use of genomic and transcriptomic information of Brassica species as tools for trait specific breeding.
