Genomics of predictive radiation mutagenesis in oilseed rape: modifying seed oil composition.

Rapeseed is a crop of global importance but there is a need to broaden the genetic diversity available to address breeding objectives. Radiation mutagenesis, supported by genomics, has the potential to supersede genome editing for both gene knockout and copy number increase, but detailed knowledge of the molecular outcomes of radiation treatment is lacking. To address this, we produced a genome re-sequenced panel of 1133 M2 generation rapeseed plants and analysed large-scale deletions, single nucleotide variants and small insertion-deletion variants affecting gene open reading frames. We show that high radiation doses (2000 Gy) are tolerated, gamma radiation and fast neutron radiation have similar impacts and that segments deleted from the genomes of some plants are inherited as additional copies by their siblings, enabling gene dosage decrease. Of relevance for species with larger genomes, we showed that these large-scale impacts can also be detected using transcriptome re-sequencing. To test the utility of the approach for predictive alteration of oil fatty acid composition, we produced lines with both decreased and increased copy numbers of Bna.FAE1 and confirmed the anticipated impacts on erucic acid content. We detected and tested a 21-base deletion expected to abolish function of Bna.FAD2.A5, for which we confirmed the predicted reduction in seed oil polyunsaturated fatty acid content. Our improved understanding of the molecular effects of radiation mutagenesis will underpin genomics-led approaches to more efficient introduction of novel genetic variation into the breeding of this crop and provides an exemplar for the predictive improvement of other crops.

Reducing MSH4 copy number prevents meiotic crossovers between non-homologous chromosomes in Brassica napus.

In allopolyploids, correct chromosome segregation requires suppression of non-homologous crossovers while levels of homologous crossovers are ensured. To date, no mechanism able to specifically inhibit non-homologous crossovers has been described in allopolyploids other than in bread wheat. Here, we show that reducing the number of functional copies of MSH4, an essential gene for the main crossover pathway, prevents non-homologous crossovers in allotetraploid Brassica napus. We show that non-homologous crossovers originate almost exclusively from the MSH4-dependent recombination pathway and that their numbers decrease when MSH4 returns to single copy in B. napus; by contrast, homologous crossovers remain unaffected by MSH4 duplicate loss. We also demonstrate that MSH4 systematically returns to single copy following numerous independent polyploidy events, a pattern that is probably not by chance. These results suggest that stabilization of allopolyploid meiosis can be enhanced by loss of a key meiotic recombination gene.