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Scientific name: Brassica napus

Common name(s): rapeseed, oilseed rape

Name as shown in Phylogenes: rapeseed

Ploidy: tetraploid

Description:

Brassica napus, commonly known as rapeseed, is a widely cultivated crop grown for its oil-rich seed. Rapeseed is the third-largest source of vegetable oil. It is a member of the Brassicaceae family that includes a number of other important crops such as cabbage, mustards and broccoli, and is a relative of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana.

Brassica napus is a domesticated tetraploid. It has undergone intensive breeding to optimize seed oil content and composition, decrease undesirable erucic acid and glucosinolates, optimize flowering behavior, and improve pathogen resistance. Analysis of the rapeseed genome can provide insights into allopolyploid evolution and its relationship to crop domestication and improvement.

Reference(s):

Chalhoub B, et al. Early allopolyploid evolution in the post-Neolithic Brassica napus oilseed genome. Science. 2014 Aug 22;345(6199):950-3. doi: 10.1126/science.1253435.

Genome Database(s):

Brassica napus - EnsemblPlants

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