Linkage of morphological markers in brassica

Morphological markers play a pivotal role in selection of desirable traits in all plant breeding programs. The genetic linkage maps provide the basic information about the nature and place of genes on genetic maps. Two plant introduction (PI) germplasm of Brassica napus i.e. PI409024 and PI 535850 were inter specifically hybridized to 366 and 1203 lines of B. campestris. The hybrids i.e. 409024 x 1203 and crusher x 1203 were grown to produce F1 generation. The F1 populations were evaluated for genetic nature of four morphological qualitative traits like plant color, flower color, leaf shape and leaf pubescence at the KPK Agricultural University, Peshawar. In F1 generation dark green plant color (C), dark yellow flower color (Y), entire leaf shape (E1) and non-hairiness of leaf (h) were expressed as dominant traits. In F2 generation the hybrids segregated and were classified into their respective phenotypic classes. Linkages were detected between Y and H, and E1 and H, pairs of loci. The recombination frequency between Y and H loci was 17.7+- 10.3 cM, and between E1 and H was 32.3 +- 9.9 cM. (author)